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Former Eskom Board Chairman Zola Tsotsi testifies at the Zondo Commission in Johannesburg on September 8, 2020 (Photo: Gallo Images / Papi Morake)
Former Eskom chairman Zola Tsotsi has explained how the SOE board approved a proposal to suspend four executives in 2015, essentially handing over power to Dudu Myeni, Jacob Zuma and the Guptas. On Wednesday, you will likely have to explain any contradictions in your testimony.
Zola Tsotsi, who served as Eskom president from 2011 to 2015, could face tough questions as he continues his testimony Wednesday at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry, after evidence leaders revealed they have audio recordings of the meeting of the board that approved a controversial investigation and suspended four executives in 2015.
Tsotsi returned to the committee on Tuesday and referred to the evidence he presented in the 2017 parliamentary inquiry into Eskom, where he revealed that the proposal to launch the investigation and suspend the executives stemmed from a meeting with SAA Chairman Dudu. Myeni and Jacob Zuma at the former president’s residence in Durban.
Tsotsi testified a day after former Eskom CEO Tshediso Matona explained how he was sidelined in the move, one of a series that ultimately benefited businesses linked to the Gupta family.
On the eve of a board meeting on February 26, 2015, Zuma called Tsotsi to tell him that the meeting would be postponed. Recently, the board had been packed with Gupta associates and was due to meet for the first time.
The then president said he could not communicate with Public Business Minister Lynne Brown or her deputy. The acting CEO of public companies, Matsietsi Mokholo, later called Tsotsi and said that Brown had requested the postponement.
It was an unprecedented request for the president, who mistakenly thought that the minister could postpone board meetings. The president thought it was “quite strange and quite sinister” but complied, without asking for an explanation.
“It seems they just hoped the board would just line up,” Supreme Court Vice President Raymond Zondo said.
On March 7, 2015, Tsotsi received a call from Myeni. She said that Zuma wanted to meet her at the presidential residence in Durban the next day. There, Tsotsi found Myeni with her son Thalente and consultant Nick Linnell, who had worked closely with Myeni. Jabu Maswanganyi has said that he was there too, but Tsotsi does not recall seeing him.
Before meeting with Zuma, Myeni explained that Eskom was underperforming and that executives weren’t updating the government’s energy “war room,” run by then-Vice President Cyril Ramaphosa, accurately and on time.
He proposed launching an investigation into Eskom’s failures and suspending three top executives: Chief Executive Officer Tshediso Matona, Director of Capital Projects Dan Marokane, and Chief Technology and Commercial Officer Matshela Koko.
When the meeting with Zuma began, the president asked on isiZulu: “What are we talking about today?”
Zuma’s bizarre presentation was a sticking point for Zondo, who wondered who had orchestrated the plan, Zuma, Myeni, or strangers. Tsotsi believed that Zuma and Myeni were exponents of a plan hatched elsewhere.
“After all, in my opinion, we haven’t heard from the original architects,” he told Zondo.
Tsotsi said she was in “semi-shock the whole time” as she listened to Myeni tell her what was wrong with Eskom and how to fix it.
He claimed that he argued that suspending the executives was premature as they faced no specific allegations, but took the proposals, including a proposed board memorandum and resolutions that Linnell emailed to him, to an Eskom board meeting that was held. hastily arranged for March 9, 2015..
The council decided to consider the proposals and met again on March 11. This time Minister Lynne Brown was present. Tsotsi said he believed the executives could continue to work while the investigation began, but agreed with the board that they could impede the investigation and should be suspended.
Brown supported the suspensions, according to Tsotsi, adding another name to the list Myeni provided: Chief Financial Officer Tsholofelo Molefe.
The new board had not met with the Eskom executive before the March 11 meeting and had not told the CEO, who was surprised, about the alleged lack of updates in the war room. Tsotsi said the concern was actually due to a lack of technical expertise in the war room.
Zondo questioned how the board could take Myeni and Linnell’s advice and “just go with the idea.”
The former president was surprised when the advocate for test leader Pule Seleka revealed that the commission had recordings of the board meeting, minus the part while Brown was there.
The recordings will air as Tsotsi continues to testify Wednesday, but a snippet revealed that at least one board member expressed reservations with the plan to suspend executives.
The suggested influence of the Gupta family weighed on Tuesday’s hearings. Tsotsi said she had met with the brothers three times at their home in Saxonwold and once at the Sahara Computers offices. He said Tony Gupta had made multiple inquiries and requests, requesting information about a gas contract and trying to have someone appoint Eskom’s procurement manager, but Tsotsi was unable to help.
Tony Gupta was visibly angry, according to Tsotsi, when he told him that he could not obstruct an investigation into Eskom’s deal with The new age Newspaper.
“It was common knowledge among government officials and people who had reason to interact with them that they certainly had the attention of the president and were close enough to the president to threaten people with ‘Baba,’ as they call him,” Tsotsi said. .
“They did the same to me at some point. I guess they felt that if they had that kind of influence with the president, they could demand what they wanted done and done or else there could be consequences. That was common knowledge. “
Tsotsi resigned in late March 2015, claiming that he was expelled. Ben Ngubane became president of Eskom, while Brian Molefe had replaced Matona as CEO.
Tsotsi will continue his testimony on Wednesday before Eskom’s former head of legal and compliance, Venete Klein, appears. DM
