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Zola tsotsi
Felix Dlangamandla, Netwerk24
- Former Eskom president Zola Tsotsi continued to testify before the commission of inquiry into the state capture on Wednesday.
- Tsotsi said that the suspension of four senior board members in 2015 may have been a tactic by Gupta to “have people in the organization who serve their direct interests.”
- After all four were suspended, Brian Molefe and Anoj Singh joined the power company.
The suspension and final departure of Eskom’s top executives in 2015 could have been a ploy by the Guptas to replace key officials at the top of the company with acolytes who would serve their interests, according to the former president of the power company. , Zola Tsotsi.
Tsotsi speaking for the second day before the commission of inquiry into the state capture on Wednesday.
On March 12, 2015, Eskom’s board of directors abruptly announced that four executives (Chief Executive Officer Tshediso Matona, Chief Financial Officer Tsholofelo Molefe, Group Capital Executive Dan Marokane, and Technology and Business Executive Matshela Koko) had been suspended. so that an investigation could be carried out on the energy company. without any potential obstacles.
The investigation into the power company was initially raised at a meeting held by former SAA president Dudu Myeni at former president Jacob Zuma’s residence in Durban on March 8, Tsotsi said, just days before the suspensions occurred. .
The decision to carry out the investigation and suspend the four senior officials was supported by then-Minister of Public Enterprises Lynne Brown, Tsotsi said. But the reasons behind the suspensions have not been clear.
On Wednesday, the investigation, which investigates allegations of corruption in state entities, again sought to understand why the four were abruptly suspended by the newly appointed board of the utility company, despite the fact that there is no evidence of wrongdoing on their part. .
In his attempt to justify the purge, Tsotsi blamed the influence of the Guptas for the firings.
“Knowing the appetite of the Guptas for acquiring whatever assets they could get their hands on, and having seen that at Eskom, I came to the conclusion that they wanted to have people in the organization who would serve their direct interests, so that it would be more easy for them to capture Eskom, “Tsotsi said.
“That was, and still is, the analysis I ended up with by looking at what was happening.”
Matona, the eldest of the four, challenged his suspension but eventually parted ways with the power company in May 2015. On Monday he told the commission that no one had explained to him why he needed to be suspended.
Former Transnet CEO Brian Molefe was hired in April to replace Matona. Subsequently, Anoj Singh was appointed CFO.
Judge Vice President Raymond Zondo, who is leading the investigation, noted that “allegations” had been made against Singh and Molefe in evidence presented by other witnesses, related to their alleged dealings with the Guptas during their time at Transnet and Eskom.
Zondo said that if it is ultimately established that the two former executives cooperated with the controversial family or their associates, “then it may well be a possibility that the Guptas have dealt with Transnet to their satisfaction and now want to move to Eskom.”
“When all the evidence is in … I must see if there is adequate evidence to make a find, but it is a possibility. It may well be that the Guptas and their associates are responsible for this whole idea of an investigation that Ms. Myeni he mentioned at the Durban meeting, “Zondo said.
Dominated board
Tsotsi, who appeared before the investigation once earlier in January, said Brown exerted influence over the board, including the selection of its committee members, which was outside of its powers.
He said that prior to the selection of committee members in December 2014, a Gupta associate, Salim Essa, had sent him a list of candidates to be considered for various committees, which he ignored and went on to compile on his own and the sent Brown.
However, Brown ignored its composition and in turn provided a list that resembled the one sent by Essa.
In his affidavit to the commission, Brown denied receiving a list of Tsotsi’s board committees and blamed him for failing to report that Essa approached him with their nominations.
He said it was curious that Tsotsi never reported receiving a letter from Essa. to anyone and never raised his concerns with the Eskom board, as a “conscientious chairman” is expected to do.
Tsotsi insisted that he sent the minister his list in December 2015 while on vacation in Mozambique.
“I am perfectly clear that I did communicate with the minister … it was in mid-December, how I knew that she was on vacation is because Salim Essa told me. I am very clear that I did communicate with her, there is no doubt in my mind, “Tsotsi said.
“Clearly she is denying that she ever contacted me about this list,” Tsotsi said.
Zondo pressed Tsotsi to clearly state his position on the matter and why he allowed Brown to participate in board duties.
Tsotsi stated that she had struggled to build a good working relationship with Brown and that allowing him to get away with the board would help prevent further weakening of the relationship.
“Deep down I thought that maybe if I left this behind, it would be a way to try to improve the relationship with her,” since it was important to maintain a good relationship with the shareholder.
He concluded that, in hindsight, he assumed that Brown might have been “acting at the behest of another person.”
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