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By IOL Reporter 
7h ago
Cape Town – Former Oakbay CEO Nazeem Howa and Gupta associate Salim Essa prepared statements detailing the problems at Eskom and the board’s resolution that senior executives should “step aside” as well. like the resignation of the chairman of the board, Zola Tsotsi.
This bomb surfaced in Zondo’s commission of inquiry into the state capture allegations on Tuesday when former board chairman Dr. Ben Ngubane returned to the witness stand.
At Ngubane’s previous appearance before the commission in September, he testified that he knew both Essa and Howa before being appointed to the Eskom board and that he had previously established a business partnership with the former.
He was adamant that this friendship had nothing to do with his appointment to the Eskom board.
The commission heard on Tuesday that Essa and Howa prepared statements dated March 19 and 21.
The actual meeting took place on March 30 between 8 pm and 10 pm, but according to Ngubane, the informal discussions continued until after midnight.
At that meeting, the board advised Tsotsi to resign or face a vote of no confidence.
Ngubane testified that Tsotsi pleaded with the board not to do this as it would seriously affect his ability to earn a living serving on the boards of other companies.
The chairman of the commission, Supreme Court Vice President Raymond Zondo, expressed concern after the trial leader, attorney Pule Seleka, released a statement emailed from Tony Gupta to Nazeem Howa dated March 19. , 11 days before the board meeting, announcing Tsotsi’s resignation which would later be read by Ngubane.
The subject line of the email was “The declaration of a new forum.”
“That raises concern if someone tells Mr. Howa ahead of time what the board was going to decide. Who was that? And did she or he know that the board would make those decisions? Zondo asked.
Zondo questioned whether it was possible that someone who wanted to fire Tsotosi “could have sought the support of the board members, and told Mr. Howa that this is what the board will decide.”
He continued to question the independence of the board in light of the evidence presented to the commission.
“It would be very concerning if someone on the board informs people outside of Eskom about the decisions the board is likely to make,” Zondo reflected.
“It is even more concerning if the position is that Mr. Howa and Mr. Essa were making decisions outside of Eskom that they wanted the board to make, and they had an expectation that the board would make those decisions.
“That would mean that the board does not act independently, but is manipulated by outsiders.”
Ngubane denied having seen the email before, but admitted that it bore striking similarities to the statement prepared for him by the company’s secretary at the time.
He said earlier in the day that Eskom was like “a leaky sieve” and that confidential information was regularly shared via SMS.
MESS
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