Queries raised on memo that got Koko off hook
● Concerns have been raised over a key piece of evidence that acting Eskom CEO Matshela Koko relied heavily on in his disciplinary hearing.
Koko was cleared this week of all charges relating to his alleged failure to declare a conflict of interest in 2016, although the board has yet to confirm the decision and no official communication has been sent to him.
Koko relied on a memo in which he declared his conflict of interest relating to Impulse International, a company that did work for the power utility and in which his stepdaughter had a financial stake.
However, sources said this week that the memo had been “manufactured after the fact”.
Koko faced six charges relat- ing to his alleged failure to prop- erly declare a conflict of interest after it emerged that his step- daughter, Koketso Choma, was a director and shareholder in Im- pulse. The company netted close to R1-billion in contracts from Eskom during her time at Impulse in 2016.
On the second day of the hearing, on October 19, Koko’s legal team produced a declaration of conflict of interest dated September 26 2016, which was said to have been signed by former Eskom group CEO Brian Molefe, Koko’s line manager at the time.
This memo had apparently never been presented before, despite an extensive forensic probe by auditors Nkonki Inc and law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr.
Koko’s closing submission relied heavily on the memo, but according to an Eskom source close to the matter, it is “fake”.
Neither Eskom nor Koko’s legal team called Molefe to the hearing to testify to the veracity of the memo.
The Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr report says: “Mr Koko stated that there was no conflict of interest to declare relevant to Impulse International during 2016 as no conflict of interest existed according to him. After he was informed that his stepdaughter was a beneficiary in the Mokoni Trust, it was decided that he should declare this perceived conflict of interest, which he did [to the chairman of the Eskom board, Dr Ben Ngubane, in February].”
Eskom sources questioned why Koko never mentioned the memo during interviews with the law firm and Nkonki, which were specifically trying to establish if he had properly declared the conflict.
“Naturally if he had produced that memo when the investigations had started, Eskom would have had no reason to continue with the costly investigations or, indeed, suspend Mr Koko at all,” the Eskom source said.
Eskom policy states employees must submit declarations via its electronic system. As to why this memo was never registered on the system, Koko said it was Molefe’s responsibility. Neither Eskom nor Molefe responded to requests for comment.