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A senior Eskom executive has had an electricity meter illegally connected to his Fourways home and has used free electricity since 2006. The Sunday Times reports.
According to the report, the executive in question is the acting executive of the Eskom legal and compliance group Bartlett Hewu, who is currently suspended.
The illegal connection was discovered when Hewu reported a problem with its electricity supply last month.
Once Eskom investigated the issue, it was discovered that the executive’s home electricity meter was not linked to any Eskom account, according to the report, adding that he had racked up an electricity bill of over R247,000, which now Eskom has charged him. outstanding.
Sources told The Sunday Times that Hewu was being treated lightly by the power company, but Eskom told the publication that he takes all allegations of wrongdoing against any staff member very seriously.
“The employee in question, a acting executive, has been suspended with immediate effect while the investigations continue,” Eskom said.
The discovery of a long-standing illegal electrical connection at the home of a senior Eskom executive is concerning, but pales in comparison to the financial damage caused by irregular contracts entered into by corrupt executives at the energy company over the years. .
Combing irregular contracts
Eskom has a history of corruption and state capture, and several of its procurement contracts have been investigated for wrongdoing.
Through this process, Eskom discovered a number of contracts that were entered into under irregular conditions, as well as others that were overpaid or simply did not result in the completion of the job.
The energy company has started to recoup the money it spent on these contracts. More recently, Eskom Announced that it had recovered 1.56 billion rand from ABB South Africa as a solution to a dispute over corrupt contracts.
The contract was illegally awarded by corrupt means for work at the Kusile power plant, and ABB was appointed to complete the installation of the instrument and control system for the six units of the power plant.
Eskom executives were at the center of ABB South Africa’s corrupt contract, but they have been difficult to locate and they are no longer with the power company.
The Special Investigation Unit (SIU) has identified the former Eskom executives who were responsible for the award of the contract.
“The investigation has shown that they have since left the organization,” he said.
“The resignation only ends the employer-employee relationship. We will pursue them if there is any indication that they have caused damage to Eskom. “
Release of charges and debt
Eskom CEO Andre De Ruyter said he was satisfied that Eskom had managed to recover the sum of R1.56 billion from ABB South Africa.
However, even this significant recovery would not affect the significant debt of the energy company.
De Ruyter pointed out that the total amount paid to Eskom by ABB only represents 0.25% of Eskom’s total debt and therefore will not take any major steps to settle it.
The stability of Eskom’s power generation system has also declined recently, causing load shedding to return on Saturday, December 12, 2020.
The power company announced on Friday that it would implement stage 2 load shedding on both Saturday and Sunday due to shortages of emergency generation reserves and unplanned outages.
Yet on Sunday morning confirmed that shedding had been suspended thanks to the recovery of emergency generation reserves.
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