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Tsotsi on Wednesday continued his testimony before the state capture commission about the events that led his board to say it has no confidence in him and his resignation.
A screenshot shows former Eskom president Zola Tsotsi in the state capture investigation on September 8, 2020. Image: SABC Digital / YouTube
JOHANNESBURG – Former Eskom board chair Zola Tsotsi said he was asked to leave a board meeting organized to discuss the charges against him after a person identified as ‘Romeo Khumalo’ brought something to the meeting , but you don’t know what it was.
Tsotsi on Wednesday continued his testimony before the state capture commission about the events that led his board to say it has no confidence in him and his resignation.
One of the charges was that he had appointed Nick Linell as a consultant even though Dudu Myeni had brought Linell in the presence of former President Jacob Zuma.
Tsotsi has testified that Myeni took Linell to a meeting at Zuma’s farm in KwaZulu-Natal, and at that meeting, Myeni and Zuma gave Linell the green light to draft a board resolution to launch an investigation into Eskom and suspend four executives.
But he said Khumalo brought something to a special board meeting and the board told Tsotsi to leave because he wanted to talk about him; and he would later learn that the board decided to use Linell’s appointment as a reason to remove him.
After his suspension, he told the media in interviews that he believed that Minister Lynne Brown had something to do with it, to which the minister threatened not to receive his money if he did not retract the statement.
Tsotsi said he has not yet received the legal fees he paid even though the utility company agreed to pay them.
Deputy Judge Raymond Zondo has noted that Tsotsi’s removal reflects many executives and officials who believed they were expelled for refusing to cooperate with the Guptas.
WATCH: Former Eskom Board Chairman Zola Tsotsi at the State Capture Commission
‘WE MUST PROTECT OUR LEADERS’ – RECORDING
The commission has heard recordings from Eskom board members saying that while Chairman Zuma and Minister Brown instructed the board to suspend executives, they should not be mentioned in any press release when the suspensions were announced.
A barely audible recording played before the state capture commission reminded the former chairman of the board that one of the board members said “we must protect our leaders.”
Tsotsi says he brought up the fact that Myeni called him to President Zuma’s residence, where the whole plan was put in place.
He said the board he led adopted Linell’s drafted resolution to launch an investigation and suspend four executives, with the approval of Minister Brown.
But the board itself insisted that Zuma and Brown should not be mentioned in statements announcing the decision, and the decision should be attributed to the board.
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