{"id":558291,"date":"2024-09-01T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-01T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=558291"},"modified":"2024-09-01T13:01:47","modified_gmt":"2024-09-01T11:01:47","slug":"dodgy-eskom-contracts-under-microscope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/energy\/558291-dodgy-eskom-contracts-under-microscope.html","title":{"rendered":"Dodgy Eskom contracts under the microscope"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has been authorised to investigate allegations of corruption and maladministration related to nine contracts involving Eskom&#8217;s operations and coal and diesel procurement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Friday, 30 August 2024, the SIU <a href=\"https:\/\/www.siu.org.za\/siu-authorised-to-investigate-allegations-of-corruption-and-maladministration-in-nine-eskom-contracts-and-amendment-of-the-department-of-rural-development-and-land-reform-investigation\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.siu.org.za\/siu-authorised-to-investigate-allegations-of-corruption-and-maladministration-in-nine-eskom-contracts-and-amendment-of-the-department-of-rural-development-and-land-reform-investigation\/\">announced<\/a> that President Cyril Ramaphosa had signed an amended proclamation permitting it to probe the contracts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It will also investigate any unauthorised, irregular, fruitless, or wasteful expenditure incurred by Eskom or the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The investigation will encompass any unlawful or improper conduct by Eskom officials, employees, suppliers, service providers, or any other involved parties,&#8221; the SIU said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The President&#8217;s declaration \u2014 Proclamation 178 of 2024 \u2014 authorises the SIU to investigate the following contracts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The procurement of and contracting for coal from Tegeta Exploration and Resources for coal supplied by Optimum Coal Mine and the Brakfontein Colliery Mine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Procuring and contracting for coal information technology services under a master services agreement concluded with T-Systems International GmbH<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The procurement of and contracting for information technology services related to software licence and support agreements concluded with SAP South Africa<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Procurement of and contracting for coal services concerning Task Order SM008 for &#8220;capital scrubbing&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The procurement of and contracting for coal security services from Combined Private Investigations<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The procurement of and contracting for coal forensic investigation services from Kapditwala Incorporated, trading as Dentons South Africa<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The procurement of and contracting for information technology services from Cutting Edge Commerce<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Serious maladministration in connection with the affairs of Eskom relating to a pre-payment by Eskom of approximately R1.68 billion for coal from Optimum Coal Mine to Hendrina Power Station, which pre-payment was later changed to a guarantee<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Serious maladministration in connection with the affairs of Eskom relating to a pre-payment by Eskom of approximately R659 million to Tegeta Exploration and Resources<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The amended proclamation allows the SIU to investigate allegations of unlawful and improper conduct from 1 March 2006 to 30 August 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Coal-truck.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-539171\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Coal-truck.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Coal-truck-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Coal-truck-800x533.jpg 800w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Coal-truck-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Civil rights organisation AfriForum <a href=\"https:\/\/afriforum.co.za\/en\/siu-investigation-into-eskom-contracts-only-the-beginning-of-the-fight-against-corruption-at-the-power-giant-afriforum\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/afriforum.co.za\/en\/siu-investigation-into-eskom-contracts-only-the-beginning-of-the-fight-against-corruption-at-the-power-giant-afriforum\/\">welcomed the proclamation&#8217;s signing<\/a>, describing it as a giant step to promote accountability in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It says it submitted an application to Eskom in July 2022 to obtain information about its coal and diesel contracts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The organisation believes that Eskom&#8217;s coal and diesel contracts contain information that may expose irregularities and corruption at the power supplier,&#8221; it added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Campaign officer on corruption at AfriForum Charn\u00e9 Mostert says the SIU&#8217;s announcement highlights the deep corruption and maladministration at the state-owned power utility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;This makes it inevitable that Eskom must reveal the details of these contracts,&#8221; says Mostert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We will continue unabated to demand that these contracts be made completely public so that the public can see the extent of the Eskom crisis.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In July 2023, SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the organisation was <a href=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/investing\/501201-corruption-watchdog-gunning-for-eskom-criminal-masterminds.html\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/investing\/501201-corruption-watchdog-gunning-for-eskom-criminal-masterminds.html\">expanding its investigations into Eskom<\/a>. He said the investigations were growing constantly as it uncovered more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;When we started, we looked at some of the small investigations that related to employees,&#8221; Kganyago said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Later on, it expanded to include investigations of the coal contracts, and that then extended to include investigations of sabotage.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The SIU turned away from investigating individuals to focus on syndicates involved in supplying coal and diesel to Eskom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kganyago&#8217;s comments echoed those made by Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa in an interview around the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We are placing significant amounts of effort in ensuring that we protect these assets and defend the gains we have made,&#8221; Ramokgopa said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To this end, the National Electricity Crisis Committee (Necom) established a team of intelligence and police experts to focus on crime, corruption, and safety at Eskom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, we need to &#8220;go beyond the ordinary men to the main orchestrators and the brains behind the efforts to undermine electricity supply,&#8221; added Ramokgopa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said the destruction of infrastructure was orchestrated, with Necom identifying several links between <a href=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/energy\/558284-eskom-sabotage-vanishes.html\">Eskom sabotage<\/a> and the destruction of rail infrastructure in the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed an amended proclamation authorising the SIU to investigate corruption at Eskom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341076,"featured_media":490125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27995],"tags":[1731,24248,181,59869,21325,24260],"class_list":["post-558291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-afriforum","tag-corruption","tag-eskom","tag-president-cyril-ramaphosa","tag-sabotage","tag-special-investigating-unit-siu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558291"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341076"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=558291"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":558299,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558291\/revisions\/558299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/490125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=558291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=558291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=558291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}