Tutuka power station: Eskom employee granted R5 000 bail after arrest on fraud charges

An Eskom employee working at the power utility’s Tutuka Power Station in Mpumalanga has been released on bail of R5 000 following an arrest for alleged fraud.

The employee, Zandile Rosemary Ngcobo, who works as a procurement officer at the power plant, is accused of fraudulently colluding with a service provider to secure a tender for containers at inflated prices.

Tutuka power station fraud

The 43-year-old appeared in the Standerton Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday after she was arrested by the Middelburg-based Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team on charges of fraud, theft and money laundering.

ALSO READ: Tutuka plant manager continues to wear bulletproof vest, family protected by bodyguards – De Ruyter

According to police spokesperson Captain Dineo Sekgotodi, it is alleged that Ngcobo conspired with Umnandi Conference and Catering in 2021 to receive the contract for the purchase and delivery of two containers at Tutuka.

It is also alleged that she submitted fraudulent documents, and inflated the prices for the order from R60 000 to R939 000, which caused prejudice to Eskom.

Other accused

Ngcobo’s case has been postponed until Thursday and referred to the Middelburg Specialised Commercial Crime Court, where she will be joining other accused Annemarie Stander, 55, Jessica Khubheka, 61, Solomon Twala, 59, and Nomsa Sibiya, 49.

Tutuka Power Station has been one of Eskom’s several problematic power plants in recent years. The power station’s general manager has reportedly been wearing a bulletproof vest at work and has bodyguards protecting him and his family due to the high level of corruption at the facility.

Eskom to appoint independent panel

Meanwhile, Eskom on Wednesday announced that it would appoint independent investigators to probe the various allegations of corruption made by the utility’s former CEO André de Ruyter.

The announcement was made by Eskom’s board and executives during their appearance before parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa).

Eskom board chairperson Mpho Makwana said they were in the process of procuring the services of the independent legal panel to revisit previous internal investigations to determine whether further action was required by the board.

Additional reporting by Molefe Seeletsa

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