VIDEO: Company promises NKZN renewable energy and Eskom debt relief, now faces multi-million rand lawsuit

The company that promised to rescue AbaQulusi from Eskom debt and provide cheap electricity, maintenance free street lights fitted with security cameras, smart meters and free wifi now faces a multi-million rand law suit.

An investigation by the Vryheid Herald revealed that Ntutu Kgatlhanye, the man who presented the renewable energy project on behalf of Delaseko Holdings on May 31, had seemingly misled the council, violated his confidentiality agreement with another company and stolen that company’s intellectual property.

Watch the video below to see Delaseko representative, Ntutu Kgatlhanye, make fantastic promises to the AbaQulusi council:

So who is behind Delaseko Holdings?

A simple Google search for Delaseko Holdings reveals absolutely no tangible information about the company, its service offerings or its previous business dealings. All that comes up is a Linked In profile and a Facebook page for Boitumelo (Tumz) Mathuloe, the CEO of the company.

Ms Mathuloe is a former nurse from Rustenburg who claims to be involved in renewable energy, mining and transport, among other projects.

She told the Vryheid Herald that her company had been operational since 2013 and had recently partnered with a company called InovaSure.

According to Ms Mathuloe, an appointment letter was issued to Delaseko and InovaSure in a joint venture to provide renewable energy in Ulundi, and Ms Mathuloe was awaiting feedback from AbaQulusi Municipality regarding a similar project. “I have a good relationship with municipalities and I bring on municipalities. My core job is raising funds and dealing with the municipalities. We will then sit down and discuss with InovaSure what work needs to be done,” she said.

Mr Kgatlhanye told the AbaQulusi council that Delaseko Holdings had already been appointed for a renewable energy project at Mkhondo Municipality (Piet Retief) and in Ulundi.

Mkhondo Municipality and InovaSure have never heard of Delaseko

Municipal manager at Mkhondo Municipality, Mr Matawe, said he had never heard of Deleseko Holdings before. He confirmed that a renewable energy project was underway at Mkhondo, but the company that had been appointed to carry out the work was InovaSure.

InovaSure’s company profile, product offerings and contact details can be viewed at www.inovasure.com

Max Lourens, the CEO of InovaSure, confirmed that the company was busy with a renewable energy project at Mkhondo Municipality, but had also never heard of Delaseko Holdings before.

Mr Lourens was later able to identify the person who gave the presentation in AbaQulusi as Ntutu Kgatlhanye from a company called Sigentu Investments.

Mr Kgatlhanye was contracted to InovaSure to present InovaSure products to municipalities.

“InovaSure does not act in a joint venture with any consultant and any consultant may only present InovaSure. If a resolution or agreement is tabled, it is only an InovaSure agreement or resolution and no other party. I have no agreement, knowledge of, or arrangement with Delaseko and will take legal action to stop this misappropriation of our intellectual property,” said Mr Lourens.

Attempts to reach Mr Kgatlhanye for comment proved fruitless. The municipal manager for Ulundi Municipality could not be reached at the time of print.

AbaQulusi was ready to engage with Delaseko when they had not even produced a company profile

Mayor, Jerry Sibiya, was disappointed to hear that Mr Kgatlhanye had misrepresented the company.

“After his presentation, I warned council to be careful.  I was worried about this and felt that council must be forewarned not to take any decisions if they did not know the history of the company. If the company was a reputable company, it should have sent a company profile. Without the company profile, we can’t check the credentials,” he said.

Sihlangu Masuku, director of Technical Services, confirmed that, despite asking numerous times, he had never received a company profile for Delaseko.

AbaQulusi will still pursue renewable energy options

“I first heard of them when I was called to attend a presentation by Delaseko in the Speaker’s office. They offered renewable energy and Eskom debt reduction. When I asked them what it would cost, they said they would work on a profit sharing agreement, which made a lot of sense to me as well. We are struggling to pay Eskom,” said Mr Masuku.

“I come from the very same renewable energy sector. Before I joined AbaQulusi, I worked for a renewable energy company. When I looked into Delaseko I found InovaSure and assumed they had an agreement. This would have been investigated during the supply chain procedures. The country, as a whole is moving away from dirty forms of generating electricity as it is eating away at our ozone layer. That is why we have severe climate conditions. The country is moving toward cleaner energy. We need to think out of the box. The future of Eskom is very bleak. Our bills are forever increasing. I am still going to advertise for clean energy because I believe that this is the right way to go but only reputable companies must come on board.”

Asked how the  item in the council agenda recommended  that Delaseko be appointed on a Section 32 basis, Mr Masuku chalked down the wording in the agenda to an administrative error.

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