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The SIU has referred more than 5,500 officials to Eskom to face disciplinary proceedings for, among other things, failing to disclose their financial interests, including a number of employees who were red flagged after lifestyle audits.
FILE: Eskom headquarters at Megawatt Park in Johannesburg. Image: Reinart Toerien / EWN
CAPE TOWN – The Special Investigation Unit (SIU) has more than 5,500 Eskom employees in its crosshairs as it continues its investigations into fraud, corruption and mismanagement at the utility.
The SIU has updated Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on its investigation into coal, diesel and construction contracts involving billions of rand.
The SIU has referred more than 5,500 officials to Eskom to face disciplinary proceedings for, among other things, failing to disclose their financial interests, including a number of employees who were red flagged after lifestyle audits.
The SIU said Eskom employees who have done business with the energy company would be referred to the National Tax Authority (NPA): seven cases have been referred so far and evidence files are being prepared in the cases of eight more.
Andy Mothibe, Director of the SIU: “It is really comforting for me to see that we have identified this number of officials, for a total of 5,523, according to the lines of conflict of interest that include the failure to present declarations (of their financial interests ) “.
Mothibe said this is where the rot begins.
“This is where things start to go wrong, when officials at all levels of the organization delve into undeclared business interests and begin to override, interfere with procurement processes, and just turn a blind eye. . “
SIU’s Eskom principal investigator Claudia O’Brien said they had made 27 referrals related to contract construction to the NPA, involving companies and individuals.
“So far four people have been arrested: two Eskom officials and two individuals representing seven business entities that participated in this scam.
“In terms of civil proceedings, the SIU has informed the lawyers to initiate proceedings against three of the four contractors for the recovery of overpayments, estimated at a total of R $ 788 billion.”
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