[ad_1]
The number of 5,452 employees who do not disclose their financial interests amounts to almost one in 10 employees at Eskom, with a total workforce of just over 46,600, from the lowest-ranking worker to the top executives. (Photo: Adobe Stock)
When the Special Investigation Unit alerted Eskom that 5,452 of its employees had failed to declare their financial interests, parliamentarians were also informed of tens of millions of rand in bribes paid to power company officials.
The briefing of the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) on Wednesday to Parliament’s public spending watchdog, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa), about its investigations at Eskom has two conclusions.
First, illegality and self-enrichment, and the abuse of state assets for private gain, continue to deeply affect the energy company that was central to State Capture. Second, institutional change remains an uphill battle, while Eskom, given its R488 billion debt and insecure energy supply, remains the biggest risk for South Africa.
The number of 5,452 employees who do not disclose their financial interests amounts to almost one in 10 employees at Eskom, with a total workforce of just over 46,600, from the lowest-ranking worker to the top executives.
Of these, the SIU confirmed that 324 employees were linked to entities on Eskom’s supplier list. And 135 employees were doing business with the energy company to the tune of more than R6 billion.
In contrast, in September 2020 it became known that one in every 1,100 civil servants in national and provincial departments employing more than 1.1 million civil servants was illegally doing business with the state.
The department of public service and administration informed parliamentarians about an increase to 1,539 in the number of civil servants doing business with the state, compared to 1,068 a year earlier in February 2019, despite the fact that the Management of the Public Administration prohibited it, and in Section 8 even criminalized, public officials who do business with the state.
Words are not enough: fighting corruption requires action, deadlines and political will
On Wednesday, the SIU told Scopa that it had referred the cases of seven Eskom officials to the National Tax Authority (NPA), and that another eight cases were being prepared for referral.
Meanwhile, Eskom had initiated 15 disciplinary proceedings in relation to the non-disclosure, with two officials having been acquitted and two found guilty. Four officials resigned and Eskom decided not to pursue these cases.
SIU chief Andy Mothibi told MPs that it became difficult to act against employees who resigned. But, he argued, action must be taken.
“We are driving hard… there are consequences on all fronts. Disciplinary measures … we are following up with Eskom if they are implementing our recommendations, ”said Mothibi.
Eskom previously told MPs that its top executives and managers had submitted their disclosures and had also passed lifestyle audits. That means that most conflicts of interest and business cases with the state would occur at the middle and lower management levels.
On Wednesday, the SIU told Scopa that Eskom alerted 34 officials to those lifestyle audits. Eight now face disciplinary proceedings; seven resigned and 19 investigations are ongoing.
Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said Daily maverick the electric power company would investigate and act when there are findings of embezzlement. “We will hold anyone accountable in disciplinary proceedings, and even criminal charges.”
Several former Eskom executives have already gone bankrupt.
In mid-December 2019, former Eskom senior executives Abraham Masango and France Hlakudi were arrested and charged with fraud and corruption for rand 30 million bribes linked to Kusile coal plant. And in November 2019, former financial controller Bernard Moraka was charged with 53 counts.
Former Eskom bosses and Tubular Construction executives indicted in R30m’s Kusile bribery saga
The new build program at Kusile and Medupi – these power plants are over tens of billions of rand over budget and are years behind schedule – and the Matla, Majuba and Ingula power plants were also red flagged.
In Kusile, for example, the SIU identified what it called “suspicious payments” of R136 million from four contractors to two other subcontractors who, in turn, illegally funneled R44.4 million to four Eskom officials.
Although the SIU referred three issues related to the new construction programs to Eskom, once officials received their suspension letters, two of them resigned. A staff member was found guilty in disciplinary proceedings.
The SIU has initiated civil proceedings against three contractors to recover overpayments totaling R2.78 billion. This comes in addition to a civil summons for R3.8 billion that SIU and Eskom instituted in August 2020 against former power company chief Brian Molefe, former CFO Anoj Singh and others.
It emerged that the SIU also appears to be considering suing Tegeta itself, regarding the losses its coal contracts caused Eskom. SIU’s chief legal counsel, Jerome Wells, told MPs that the unit was currently quantifying losses and damages suffered by Eskom.
“This process is in an advanced stage. That is the basis of the claims against Tegeta … (It) should end within the next month, or two months. Then we instituted the convocation, ”Wells said.
“Tegeta is a going concern at the moment. He’s operating … so he has assets in Brakfontein. The only concern is that it is in the process of business rescue at the moment, but it is operational “.
As part of its Eskom investigations that began in April 2018 and expanded in early 2020, the SIU seeks to recover R8.74 billion from various companies, contractors and others.
But the SIU has its hands full, given its involvement in the PPE tendering scandal that benefited politically connected companies with no track record in medical supplies, now also under scrutiny by the South African Revenue Service (Sars).
Mothibi told MPs that the unit recently announced 25 openings for forensic accountants and legal specialists. DM
