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Former Eskom board chairman Zola Tsotsi told the state capture commission on Wednesday that his dramatic resignation in 2015 was premeditated by his colleagues who were colluding with then-public business minister Lynne Brown.
Tsotsi was wrapping up two days of testimony in which she uncovered how the Gupta family made decisions in Eskom with Brown’s blessing.
His testimony focused on the events at Eskom during March 2015, when the then CEO Consolation ministers was pushed to “give way” to Brian Molefe.
After Matona’s ouster in early March, Tsotsi said, the board shifted its focus to him.
Tsotsi said he was convinced that Brown was behind his colleagues turning against him, as they had never seen each other face to face since she was appointed to his portfolio in 2014.
Tsotsi said the purge began when colleagues on the board started having WhatsApp conversations without him and organizing meetings without informing him.
At some point, the rest of the Eskom board, with the exception of Tsotsi, flew to Cape Town to meet Brown. There they formulated a charge sheet against Tsotsi and asked him to explain himself at a board meeting on March 19.
This was just over a week after the board and Tsotsi had suspended Matona.
Tsotsi said he asked for an extension to consult his legal representatives, which was granted and the meeting was delayed until March 30.
At this meeting, Tsotsi addressed the board, insisting that the charges against him were false. After his presentation, he was asked to come out for the board to deliberate on a verdict.
“Sometime in the night [they] He sent a delegation to come talk to me. It was Dr. Ben Ngubane and Romeo Kumalo, ”Tsotsi said.
“They made a proposal that if I agree to resign, they would drop the charges against me because they didn’t want a lengthy and disorderly exchange between Eskom and me.”
Tsotsi agreed to resign, saying that he did so because he wanted to protect his reputation and Eskom’s.
Tsotsi told the commission why he believed Brown was working with the Guptas. He recounted an occasion, shortly after the appointment of the board, when he had to formulate committees. Tsotsi said the committees suggested by Brown were identical to those presented by Gupta’s associate. Salim Essa.
“I was very surprised, at that time it was very early in the mandate of the new board. I was very intrigued by the whole thing and couldn’t point out what was going on, ”Tsotsi said.
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