Koko implicates his former colleagues
Singles out whistle-blower, claims he tried to block dodgy deals
ESKOM head of generation Matshela Koko implicated his former colleagues in corruption while testifying before the parliamentary inquiry into the power utility. He claimed he was victimised because he sought to block shady dealings, telling MPs: “I feel hurt and aggrieved.”
Koko singled out Eskom’s former head of legal turned whistle-blower Suzanne Daniels. He said she had called him a liar in her testimony to the inquiry but he had refused to sign off an irregular payment of R460 million to consulting firm McKinsey which she had recommended, though there was no valid contract between the two companies.
“What the committee must deal with, is (her) coming here saying Mr Koko is a thief and Mr Koko puts before you a recommendation to pay R460m to McKinsey,” he said, adding that he had refused.
Daniels last year told the inquiry she viewed payments for consultancy fees, in the absence of any formal contract, as “brazen theft”.
Koko told the inquiry: “I have been called a thief by people I trusted, by people I still trust. I have been called a thief by Suzanne Daniels. People abuse these forums.”
Last week, the National Prosecuting Authority accused McKinsey of using its relationship with Eskom to create a semblance of legitimacy that allowed Trillian, a firm linked to the Gupta family, to drain R600m from Eskom.
Daniels testified that the utility never had a contract with Trillian’s subsidiaries but made at least two payments of R30m and R500m for consultancy fees.
Koko said he saw an instruction on direct invoicing but “could not support it” because “simply put, there was no direct contract between Trillian and Eskom”.
He also claimed that Daniels was lying when she told the committee that he was present at a meeting in Melrose Arch where close Gupta associate Salim Essa told her four senior Eskom executives would be suspended, among them Tshediso Matona, who was replaced by Brian Molefe.
Evidence leader advocate Ntuthuzelo Vanara told Koko he should expect his denial to be contradicted by other witnesses. “At the end of this meeting, there will be two witnesses who placed you at Melrose Arch.” – African News Agency/ANA