The DA has noted Eskom’s sudden U-turn today after it initially claimed that the R1.6 billion paid to the Gupta-linked Trillian and Mckinsey was above board back in June this year.
The fact is that Eskom defended these payments and stated that everything was above board following an investigation by Global consultancy, Oliver Wyman, in June.
It has now been revealed that Oliver Wyman not only warned against the approval of these payments, but had actually red flagged these payments, stating that Eskom needed to conduct a legal review of all contracts.
The DA will write to the Acting Public Enterprises Committee Chairperson, Ms Zukiswa Ranthoto, to ask that she urgently ensure Eskom hands over the report by Oliver Wyman to Parliament for scrutiny.
It is now apparent that Eskom procured the services of Oliver Wyman. Yet, when the advice was not in favour of the Guptas, they blatantly chose to ignore it.
It is unacceptable that Eskom thought they could get away with this lie for so long.
The DA will ensure that all those responsible for this will be held to account at Parliament’s upcoming Eskom Inquiry.
Under the toxic influence of the seemingly Gupta-captured Eskom leadership, the power utility has floundered from one corruption scandal to another and enough is enough.
DA demands details of R1.6 billion Tegeta-Optimum settlement be made public
The DA will today write to the Acting Public Enterprises Committee Chairperson, Ms Zukiswa Ranthoto, to request that she demands Eskom hands over the details of the Tegeta-Optimum agreement to the Public Enterprises Committee.
Reports today indicate that Eskom slashed a non-performance penalty of R2.1 billion levied against Glencore for their Optimum mine, to R255.4 million, a mere 10% of the original settlement demanded from the previous owners, Glencore.
The details of this outrageous agreement between Tegeta and Optimum must be made public as almost R1.6 billion in public money has apparently been gifted to the Guptas on a silver platter.
This is an almost 90% discount for the Guptas to acquire Optimum. Eskom most likely gave Tegeta this monumental discount because it is a Gupta-owned company.
Even worse, there are allegations that former acting Eskom CEO, Matshela Koko, approved a smaller but substantial, R659 million prepayment for coal from Optimum.
Essentially, it appears the Guptas were given money to take ownership of the mine.
Eskom, under the leadership of former CEO, Brian Molefe, therefore basically forced Glencore to sell off the mine when he refused to negotiate the R2.1 billion non-performance penalty.
The details of this outrageous agreement must now be tabled before the Public Enterprises Committee for scrutiny and effective oversight.
Eskom can no longer hide behind the confidentiality clause. The public deserves to know the content of this agreement. In this instance, it is clear that the public interest outweighs any corporate confidentiality prescriptions. NA Rule 167 gives the power to the Committee to request any documents – it is under this rule that Eskom must account to Parliament.
The captured Gupta cronies at our country’s state-owned enterprises are systematically looting our key institutions for no other reason than their own financial benefit. Ensuring the details of potentially dodgy dealings are made public is the only way to make inroads into stopping this flagrant abuse.