‘Whistle-blower’ grilled
Former Eskom official asked why she continued to meet Gupta associate after bribe bid
A FORMER Eskom senior official has detailed events that led to her being bribed by an associate linked to the Gupta family.
The power utility’s former head of legal Suzanne Daniels took the stand at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture yesterday and battled to answer questions on her perceived links to the infamous family and their corrupt dealings at Eskom.
Daniels served as Eskom’s company secretary and acting head of legal until she was fired in 2018 following a disciplinary hearing which charged her with negligence after she signed controversial contracts at the utility.
Daniels’ testimony focused on her meetings with Salim Essa, which she said were first initiated by her former boss Matshela Koko.
The first, according to her, took place in March 2015, where Daniels said Essa introduced himself as an adviser to former public enterprises minister Lynne Brown.
She maintained Essa told her at the meeting in the Melrose Arch Trillion Capital offices that four Eskom executives would be suspended, including Koko and that an inquiry would be held at the entity.
The inquiry previously heard evidence from former Eskom chairperson Zola Tsotsi that the board had decided on March 11, 2015, to suspend four of the utitily’s executives.
Daniels met Essa again in 2017 where he questioned why she would not support Koko’s return at Eskom. Koko was suspended at the time.
Daniels added that Essa offered her R800 million to support Koko’s return and that she refused the offer.
She said a fourth meeting took place in July 2017, where Essa had called her to ask about removed chief executive Brian Molefe, who had been battling with Eskom in court over the payout of his pension funds.
Daniels said she agreed to the meeting because she was curious.
She highlighted that Essa took her to a town house in Melrose Arch and that Ajay Gupta, Duduzane Zuma and former minister Brian Martins were present there.
“I was in total shock at what I had walked into. Salim then said I must tell Ajay Gupta what was happening with Brian’s case. I just said we were going to see (the) deputy judge president the next week and we would be discussing the case management of the matter.
“Mr Gupta responded, not particularly to me, that we would need to find someone in the DJP’s office to move this case out. He then said this matter would be easier to deal with when Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma came into power,” Daniels testified.
Daniels said she feared for her life at that moment and she also realised the power held by the Gupta family.
She faced tough questions on her decision to continue meeting with Essa even after he had attempted to bribe her.
Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo questioned aspects of Daniels testimony saying it could not be just curiosity that drove her to meet with a man who had attempted to bride her.
“Now you say he calls you over a weekend and you agree to go because you are curious? At the meeting at the petrol station, he offered you R800m.
“That is all the more reason to reject him. You should not be wanting to talk to him and take his calls after he had offered you R800m.
“What are doing going to meet with him over the weekend?” Zondo asked.
Daniels replied: “I was curious. I could not understand why he wanted anything to do with me”.
Advocate Pule Seleka, the evidence leader, put it to Daniels there were two narratives about her, that she was a whistle-blower or complicit in the corruption at Eskom.
Seleka said one could conclude that since she was called to a meeting with Essa then she could be perceived as being trusted by the Gupta associate to keep the information confidential.
Daniels responded: “I cannot give you a reason why they would trust me. There has been this theory that I was part of it. I would urge you to look at the Gupta operation, I was not offered bags of cash.
“I was not invited to any of their functions. So it is something that I also do not understand why they would have been blatant.”
Daniels has concluded her evidence.