Solly blames Eskom sacking on a silk
Axed official was dishonourable, utility hearing finds
● Solly Tshitangano has hit out Senior Counsel Nazeer Cassim, saying his recommendation that he be terminated by the power utility was ill-advised.
The axed chief procurement officer at Eskom was this week found guilty on five charges at a disciplinary hearing chaired by Nazeer Cassim SC. He was dismissed on Friday on Cassim’s recommendations.
He had been charged on five counts related to his alleged actions to continue Eskom’s commercial relationship with fuel oil supplier Econ Oil despite evidence pointing to impropriety between the company and the power utility.
Two of the charges also related to Tshitangano raising with the Eskom board chair Malegapuru Makgoba and then with public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan allegations that Eskom CEO André de Ruyter had flouted procedures.
Eskom said e-mails sent by Tshitangano to Makgoba were in breach of company procedure in dealing with grievances. His e-mails to Gordhan and the department contravened Eskom’s code of ethics.
“[Tshitangano’s] approach to the chairperson of the Eskom board, the minister, the presidency and Scopa [the parliamentary committee] were unwarranted in that matters which should have been dealt with internally were externalised for an ulterior purpose,” Cassim said in his finding.
“[He] made allegations against De Ruyter and others which are unfounded and part of a ruse to divert attention of his own wrongdoing.”
Cassim said he “acted dishonourably and has exhibited all the qualities that make him unsuitable for the position he occupies”.
Eskom has been embroiled in a bitter battle with Econ Oil, one of the successful bidders in a multibillion fuel oil supply tender, over alleged corruption.
Eskom has launched a court bid, which begins in two weeks’ time, to have the contract overturned and is also seeking R1bn it claims was overpaid to Econ over the years.
In a statement announcing Tshitangano’s dismissal, it said: “The chairman dismissed (Tshitangano’s) defence based on protected disclosure, finding that it was rather an attempt on [his] part to divert attention from his conduct”.
Yesterday, Tshitangano accused Cassim of flouting procedure in issuing a finding and a sanction in one report, and allegedly muddling facts and ignoring evidence put before him by himself and Eskom witnesses.
The evidence included, he said, an admission by Eskom’s head of legal, Nerina Otto, that she has not seen a forensic investigation report by law firm Bowman Gilfillan until well into November 2020, a year after Cassim asserts Tshitangano ought to have acted on it.
Tshitangano said evidence by Bowman’s investigator, David de Villiers, showed that he (Tshitangano) had not stopped Bowman from investigating the Econ Oil issue.
Tshitangano said he intended to take Cassim’s review on legal review at the labour court. He said Cassim misdirected himself to reach conclusions that he (Tshitangano) was somehow associated with Econ Oil.
“He said I refused to testify, which is a lie, because the transcript will show you I testified for two days on the Public Disclosures Act, which he did not rule on.
“When I was testifying, I said ‘chair, for you to understand the chronology, let me start back to when I joined Eskom’,” he said.
“I went to a board meeting on a certain date and the Econ Oil contract was discussed. And I cancelled it because I picked up that officials were colluding with suppliers ... If I was for Econ Oil, I would not have cancelled that contract and I would not have delayed the award to Econ in November. The reason [De Ruyter] was able to find the contract not concluded and ask the board to stop the second contract was because I had done due diligence with Econ Oil.
“Andre also used my application to Treasury to only procure from refineries in his court application, and we said this at the hearing. But the chairman does not even bring that through in his report.”
Tshitangano criticised another conclusion by Cassim, that as chief procurement officer he ought to have stopped Eskom’s board from awarding a contract to Econ Oil in a process that had passed evaluation and adjudication committees, the executive tender committee, the board’s investment and the finance sub-committee.
“The PFMA [Public Finance Management Act] is very clear, I cannot overrule the board. He even says I should have stopped someone’s resignation and prosecuted them, when I arrived at a time when the person had already resigned. The chairperson does not understand how procurement works. Section 56 of the PFMA says the authority to approve awards is given to the board.
“Whether you are the CEO, the CFO, if you are not part of the evaluation committee, you cannot change the recommendation of the committee.”
Econ Oil has denied allegations of impropriety in its work for Eskom. “We are a company built on the back of strong company values, delivery, and ethical conduct in our business.”