Eskom staff tied to criminal activity at the utility

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has found that 334 Eskom employees have businesses or interests in companies conducting business with the power utility, 14 of which have been referred to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for criminal investigation.

This is according to SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago, who told Newzroom Afrika that the findings came after 5,464 Eskom employees were forced to declare their interests after failing to do so.

“All government departments, at the end of the year or the beginning of the new financial year, you are obliged, in terms of policy, to fill in the declaration of interests form,” said Kganyago.

He said a similar policy applies at Eskom.

“We found that 5,464 Eskom employees did not fill in the forms. It doesn’t necessarily mean they have done anything wrong. The only thing they did was not to fill in the forms,” he explained.

“Out of that amount, we found that 334 of them had business or they had interest in companies that were doing business with Eskom.”

Kganyango said the SIU focused on these individuals and made 194 DC referrals “for them to be disciplined”.

Of the 194 referrals, several individuals were involved in criminal activity.

“The minute that they are involved in criminality, we then have to refer to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), and 14 of the 194 were then referred to the NPA to be dealt with as part of the criminal investigation,” he said.

In mid-February 2025, the SIU’s investigations into Eskom procurement processes revealed that an employee at the Kusile Power Station processed a large amount of after-hours purchase orders valued at more than R450 million.

SIU forensic investigation specialist Viven Govender confirmed that the staff member had received kickbacks for processing the dodgy purchase orders.

“I would say a big percentage of these transactions were facilitated by one individual at Kusile. That individual has subsequently been subjected to a disciplinary process,” he said.

“We have evidence that she has received financial gratification from the suppliers that have been identified.”

“So, we were able to draw the correlation between her actions and these POs that were issued to then the gratification that she received,” Govender added.

The individual in question is facing disciplinary procedures, and Eskom has blocked implicated service providers from conducting business with it.

Most after-hours purchase orders processed at Kusile occurred between 18:00 and 24:00, while some were processed in the early morning hours.

The SIU shared data on after-hours purchase orders at 13 other power stations.

The flagged after-hours purchase orders at Kusile Power Station total R462 million, dwarfing the next-closest power station, Duvha, which had after-hours purchase orders of R35 million.

MyBroadband asked Eskom and the SIU about the purchase orders and how long the staff member was able to get away with the dodgy transactions before being caught.

Eskom didn’t answer our questions but shared a broad statement about the SIU’s investigation, which is understandable as the case is still being investigated. The SIU did not respond by publication.

In its statement, Eskom said the SIU’s investigation spans nearly two decades but made no mention of the findings at Kusile Power Station.

“The Eskom partnership with the SIU and other law enforcement agencies is premised on holding accountable those implicated in wrongdoing, recovering financial losses, and strengthening governance processes,” the power utility said.