Eskom guns for former bosses
Sars, SIU, Hawks and NPA to help in bid to recover ‘looted’ money
ESKOM has roped in the SA Revenue Service (Sars), Special Investigating Unit (SIU), Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to go after former employees and suppliers implicated in malfeasance at the power utility.
A number of former top Eskom executives and companies are in the cross-hairs for alleged widespread looting at the power utility over a number of years.
Eskom says it is gunning for all previous senior employees who have left its employ and are implicated in malfeasance of any sort.
“In its efforts to recover financial losses against suppliers and former employees, Eskom is working closely with Sars, the SIU, Hawks and the head of investigations at the office of the National Director of Public Prosecutions,” reads a report dated June 10.
The power utility is working with law enforcement agencies such as the NPA and Hawks to have criminal charges instituted.
Mkhuleko Hlengwa, chairperson of the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa), said their stance on the matter was known and publicly communicated last month in a Parliamentary statement.
In the statement, Scopa said when it met Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and Eskom chief executive André de Ruyter, it requested the utility to submit a report on how it was planning to claw back the money stolen from it.
“Furthermore, the committee has also requested Eskom to submit a detailed report on the amounts the power utility intends to recover from those who have defrauded it,” read the statement.
Among the targets of the directorate for priority crime investigation for criminal investigations were former Eskom chief executive Brian Molefe’s R30 million pension payout and the deal signed between the utility and Impulse International, a company partly owned by former executive Matshela Koko’s stepdaughter, according to documents seen by Independent Media.
Anoj Singh, former chief financial officer, and Koko were among the former executives also being investigated for their involvement in a multimillion-rand coal deal with the one-time Gupta-owned Tegeta Exploration and Resources.
Criminal charges were laid against Singh and Koko in May 2018 and November last year at the Sandton police station.
The SIU is also conducting investigations on Medupi and Kusile, focusing on procurement contracts, claims brought by contractors, variations, and dispute adjudication assessments, including coal contracts, prepayments and bank guarantees.
Energy expert Ted Blom said Eskom needed to recoup every cent taken from it so that it could service its ballooning debt.
He added that if the money is not recovered, the consumers of energy which are already bleeding would have to pick up the tab.
“Eskom needs every dollar to pay down its ballooned debt of close to R500 billion, otherwise, the consumer will pay,” Blom said.
The focus on former executives and managers follows Gordhan’s letter to
ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina on Monday, which revealed Eskom had overpaid companies it did business with at the Kusile power station by R4bn. The overpayments have been referred to the SIU, police and the NPA while being subjected to forensic investigations.
ABB South Africa, Tubular Construction Projects, the Stefanutti Stocks Basil Read joint venture and the Stefanutti Stocks Izazi joint venture were each overpaid by R1bn while Tenova Mining and Minerals SA received R735m and various site service contracts not in the scope of the SIU received R180m.
The EFF demanded criminal charges be laid against all current and former Eskom employees who were complicit with the deliberate overpayments to companies that looted the power utility under the guise of construction work at the Kusile power station.