George Fivaz’s Eskom report ‘definitely a cause for concern’

The controversial “risk assessment” at Eskom, whether true or false, is “definitely” a cause for concern, according to experts, who claim government’s failure to acknowledge it and debunk the “wild and untested allegations” has done more harm than good.

With the report produced by George Fivaz Forensic and Risk (GFFR) back under public scrutiny, political analyst Ralph Mathekga said government has refused to give credibility to the report and was concerned about the manner in which it came about.

SIU ‘has’ copies of all reports

Fivaz claimed GFFR had already provided the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) with electronic copies of all reports and will offer it access to the database containing comprehensive information and link analysis.

According to the legal opinion provided by Fivaz, these documents included “348 ‘agent information reports’ that were continually submitted from 12 February, 2022 to 9 April, 2023”.

The opinion added that the prevalence of organised crime and corruption at Eskom were confirmed in the majority of the reports compiled by GFFR “as well as in countless other investigative reports relating to Eskom from other private sources, notably investigative journalists”.

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“Since these crimes pose immense challenges to any investigation, the creation of multidisciplinary investigative task and project teams, which include private intelligence entities, may greatly assist to ensure successful prosecution,” advocate Cerita Joubert said.

“The intelligence reports compiled by GFFR constitute a critical first step and forceful springboard from which investigations into the undoubted criminalities at Eskom can and should be launched.”

Suspicion

Mathekga said it was one thing to want to test the validity of the substance of the report, but it was quite another to not even be willing to look at it, seemingly treating it with suspicion.

“And in my observation, government has been treating it with suspicion. The Eskom bureaucracy is treating it with suspicion.

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“You have many admitting piecemeal and government officials admitting they know about this report. Government seems to have a problem with its credibility, the controversy around how it came about, the board not knowing and so forth, but the things in the report are very interesting.

“I don’t know whether the entire report falls away because of the circumstances. Government can have doubts about the procedure, but the substantive matters are of public interest. They could have said we want to investigate this.”

Mathekga said the public was very frustrated with what was going on in the public service, “particularly at Eskom, shooting down the report by looking at the messenger and saying it’s not relevant is not going to make the report die down”.

“The government is looking at this report as if the aim is to discredit it and maybe that is true because maybe it’s compromising. It has not been well received,” he added.

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“It seems they are acknowledging some of the findings, but do not wish to address them.”

SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the unit was engaging with individuals including Fivaz to understand “what happened”.

Corruption at Eskom

Meanwhile, Electricity Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa on Wednesday said 1 952 cases related to corruption at Eskom had been registered with the police since April last year. He acknowledged corruption, including state capture, was viewed as a contributor to current challenges.

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“A total of 1 405 cases are still under investigation and 126 arrests have been made. A further 302 Eskom-related cases were reported to the SA Police Service between 1 April, 2023 and 29 May, 2023, with 285 of the cases still under investigation, and 31 arrests effected.”

– reitumetsem@ citizen.co.za. Additional reporting by SAnews.gov.za.