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Former Eskom board member Venete Klein has hinted that the cash-strapped power company that paid 18 million rand to three executives, who were sent packing without doing anything wrong, was not a big deal. .
Klein was testifying at the commission of inquiry on state capture Thursday. His evidence focused on the controversial departure from the power company of three top executives in 2015.
The executives, CEO Tshediso Matona, CFO Tsholofelo Molefe and the group’s chief equity officer, Dan Marokane, were suspended in March 2015 by the then board headed by Zola Tsotsi.
Tsotsi testified earlier this week that the idea had come from former SAA president Dudu Myeni during a meeting at the Durban state house with President Jacob Zuma.
Matona, Molefe and Morakane received a combined rand 18.2 million to leave Eskom.
When asked Thursday why the board opted for exit deals rather than reinstating executives, Klein said R18.2m was not a big deal, to the surprise of the commission’s vice chairman of the Supreme Court, Raymond Zondo.
“A company [Eskom] with a turnover of R375m per year and daily operating costs of R30m, I don’t know how we came to the conclusion that R18m is comparative, ”said Klein.
“We were on a burning platform, we were sitting without money and there was chaos.
“The board had deliberated long and hard. I was convinced by the chair [Tsotsi], told us as a board that the presence of the executives could hamper the investigation, “said Klein.
“I absolutely supported the investigation. The president, Mr. Tsotsi, gave us the reasons why he believed the suspensions should take place. “
When asked what his opinion was on the matter and whether he expressed it at the meeting that made the resolutions, Klein said: “When a board has made a decision, then you go out and execute what the board has agreed to. I agreed to support the suspensions. “
The suspension of the executives influenced the downgrade of Eskom’s investment rating.
Klein added that, in hindsight, he recognized that “some of the decisions we made could have been made better.”
TimesLIVE
