Eskom pulls the plug on its annual results

THE annual financial results of state-owned power utility Eskom are set to be announced next week, July 19. According to its spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe, this follows the utility’s decision to pull the plug at the eleventh hour due to “unforeseen circumstances”. Eskom confirmed on Monday that it had received a report from its external auditors after they raised concerns about alleged irregularities linking its former chief executives Matshela Koko and Brian Molefe. The utility said the irregularities were reported to the Independent Regulatory Board of Auditors. Phasiwe said Koko’s fate was in the hands of Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown, while Molefe’s would be decided by the courts. “Eskom’s board has taken adequate steps to the satisfaction of the auditors that the irregularities were no longer continuing,” the power utility said. “In Molefe’s matter, it was noted that the irregularity could only be closed out when the court proceeding had been concluded.” Phasiwe said irregularities pertaining to the contract and Molefe had been identified by its own auditors and external auditor SizweNtsalubaGobodo. Koko was implicated in an apparent conflict of interest after Eskom awarded Impulse International, a company in which his stepdaughter Koketso Choma was a director, contracts worth R1 billion. Koko has since been on leave. – Ziyanda Mbolekwa