Parliament to step in over Eskom payments
PARLIAMENT wants to get to the bottom of the looting at Eskom following the multibillion-rand overpayments to some companies.
The chairperson of the National Assembly’s portfolio committee on public enterprises, Khaya Magaxa, said yesterday that they’d bring their oversight role to bear at the power utility.
Magaxa, an ANC MP, said the committee was aware of the damage created in almost all the state-owned entities (SOEs) and was committed to playing an oversight role to get to the bottom of their problems.
“Hence we were not surprised about the continuous revelations that come out from time to time and expose the extent of the problem in these SOEs.
“We are still confident that state security agencies, including the Zondo Commission, would ultimately bring credible facts which will lead to the punishment of all those implicated in wrongdoing,” he said.
Magaxa added that they had received a copy of the letter from Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina earlier this week explaining the R4 billion overpayment to a number of companies involved in the construction of Eskom power stations.
Gordhan’s letter stated that 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 R735 million and various site service contracts not in the scope of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) probe got R180m.
“Obviously, the next step will be the committee providing an opportunity to the shareholder (minister) to brief the portfolio committee and members asking questions about it which will include the question as to how Eskom is going to recover the money,” Magaxa said.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) wants current and former officials accused of collapsing Eskom to be arrested after it emerged that the troubled power utility was gunning for companies and employees implicated in wrongdoing.
The NUM called for the law to take its course and said nothing had been done to bring those facing serious accusations to book.
“They must be arrested. Eskom is dying and being killed by people in high positions,” NUM general secretary David Sipunzi said yesterday.
Sipunzi’s statement follows Independent Media reporting that Eskom has roped-in the SA Revenue Service (Sars), the SIU, the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in its pursuit of former employees, including executives and suppliers implicated in malfeasance.
Eskom has complained that the nature of the employer-employee relationship is contractual and affords either party the right to terminate the relationship on notice or with immediate effect in terms of the dictates of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) and the Labour Relations Act.
According to Eskom, the BCEA contains no provision that prevents an employee from resigning when faced with disciplinary action or gives employers the power to refuse to accept a resignation.
Between April 2019 to February this year, 19 employees facing allegations of impropriety and wrongdoing resigned.
Others did so during investigations and before disciplinary proceedings commenced.
The power utility has also handed dozens of cases involving over R6.3 billion to law enforcement agencies.
Sipunzi also weighed in on the planned unbundling of Eskom into generation, transmission and distribution divisions by 2023.
He said unions had not been consulted and would not hesitate to exploring the possibility that there might be legal recourse to have the plan declared invalid for failure to engage stakeholders.