Former Eskom accountant ordered to pay back money stolen from parastatal

Eskom has welcomed a court ruling that a former employee must repay all the money he fraudulently received from the embattled power utility while he was employed as an accountant at Kriel Power Station.

According to Eskom, an investigation revealed that Sifiso Masina created invoices and submitted them for payment, despite no work being done.

Resignation

“As a result, Eskom incurred a financial of loss of R513 630. The money was channelled through the suppliers and was withdrawn as cash from the accounts of Lutshala CC and Mandlenkosi CC, of which he had direct control,” said Eskom.

The parastatal added that Masina resigned with immediate effect on 27 November 2012, pending a disciplinary process after a forensic investigation into financial misconduct had been concluded.

Verdict

Eskom also revealed that Masina was found guilty of financial misconduct during a disciplinary hearing that was conducted in his absence on 7 December 2012.

He was then found guilty by the Kriel Regional Court on 26 April 2023 and was sentenced to eight years in prison. This sentence was suspended for five years, provided Masina repaid Eskom.

“The judge ordered that Masina make an immediate payment of R30 000 and 48 installments of R10 000 a month until 1 April 2027 to settle the remaining balance.”

Eskom said it was disappointed that someone in a position of trust defrauded the organisation.

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‘Control’

The organisation added that it continued to improve its internal controls to prevent incidents of this nature from reoccurring.

“Among these, is the implementation the fraud risk prevention plan to maximise fraud prevention and enhance good corporate governance practices. The implementation of the plan is monitored by the Anti-Fraud and Corruption Integration Committee (AFCIC) which also ensures integration between forensic, legal, ethics, industrial relations and supplier review functions.”

The progress of the plan is reported to the Eskom executive committee and the Audit and Risk Committee (ARC) on a regular basis, it said.

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