Eskom’s ‘dodgy’ deal
ESKOM has come under fire in Parliament over how it gave Tegeta a prepayment of R586 million to allow them to buy Optimum coal mine.
Business rescue practitioner Piers Michael Marsden told the portfolio committee on public enterprises yesterday that the money should have gone to Optimum coal mine and not Tegeta.
Marsden, who was testifying in the inquiry into state capture, also reported the transaction to the Hawks in July last year because of his suspicions, but so far nothing has happened.
A new investigating officer called him last week to meet him on the case, and this was more than a year later.
Marsden also said it was unusual for Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane to travel to Switzerland to discuss the sale of Optimum to Tegeta. Zwane met Glencore owners in December 2015. Marsden said it was unusual to pay the money to Tegeta because it did not own the mine at the time, but was in the process of buying it.
Optimum was to be sold for R2.1 billion and Tegeta had a shortfall of R600m. Three days before the deadline for the purchase of the mine in April last year, three banks refused to give a loan to Tegeta, said Marsden.
However, on the same evening there was a special Eskom board meeting where the transaction of R586m was approved to buy the mine. Marsden said the money should not have gone to Tegeta but to the mine – because Tegeta did not own the mine at the time.
Marsden also said Eskom was playing hardball to sell Optimum to any other party other than Tegeta.
“Throughout the transaction we encountered an acrimonious relationship from Eskom. This could be ascribed to playing hardball.”
He said the hard line taken by Eskom senior executives in the sale of the mine was surprising.