Former Eskom acting CEO, Gupta associates allegedly fleeced Cosatu out of millions – report

The Guptas were already operating their capture machinery as early as 2011 and one of their victims was Congress of South Africans Trade Unions (Cosatu).

In a fall-out that followed the scandal, then secretary-general, Zwelinzima Vavi, was elbowed out.

The latest revelation from amaBhungane, based on #GuptaEmails, show how Collin Matjila, then CEO of the federation’s investment arm, Kopano ke Matla, manipulated the process to secure new headquarters for the trade union.

Matjila later became Eskom’s stop-gap CEO when Brian Dames resigned unexpectedly.

The investigative report allegedly found evidence suggesting that Matjila, with the assistance of the Gupta’s right-hand man Salim Essa, “engineered twin transactions that fleeced the union.”

Matjila is understood to have secured a building for Cosatu at R35 million through “a middleman well-known to Essa”. The building was reportedly “sold Cosatu at an inflated price, earning the middleman an instant R17-million profit thanks to a back-to-back transfer.”

Matjila is accused of arranging for the cost to Cosatu to be offset by the sale of the old Cosatu House, which was then sold to the same middleman at a fire sale price, netting him millions more in value.

When approached for comment, Matjila said: “I did not receive any personal material benefit from the property transaction. I would suggest you refer your queries to Kopano ke Matla.”

Essa did not respond to detailed questions and his lawyer, Ebrahim Joosub, denied all impropriety and said whether he benefited or not from the deal is immaterial.

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