Eskom board chair attacks public protector’s report

Chairperson of the Eskom Board, Dr Ben Ngubane has strongly criticised the public protector’s report on allegations of State capture.
In her report that was released on 2 November, former public protector Thuli Madonsela revealed allegedly damning details about the relationship between Eskom CEO, Brian Molefe and the controversial Gupta family. Eskom itself is also allegedly implicated in the report.
The report shows that members of the Gupta family and President Zuma’ son, Duduzane, had secured major contracts with Eskom, a major State-owned company, through their company Tegeta, which is a Gupta-owned company where Duduzane is also a shareholder. Tegeta secured a 10-year coal supply agreement with Eskom to supply coal to the Majuba Power station. The entity has also secured contracts with Eskom to supply coal to the Hendrina and Arnot power stations.
The public protector’s report reveals that CEO, Brian Molefe is friends with members of the Gupta family. The eldest Gupta brother, Ajay admitted during an interview with Madonsela on 4 October that Molefe is his ‘very good friend’ and often visits his home in Saxonwold.
Madonsela’s report also highlights that between the period 2 August last year and 22 March this year, Molefe had called Ajay a total of 44 times and Ajay had called Molefe a total of 14 times.
According to the report, for the period between 5 August and 17 November last year, Molefe can be placed in the Saxonwold area on 19 occasions. The report states the information above shows a distinct line of communication between Molefe, the Gupta family and directors of their companies.
“These links cannot be ignored as [Mr] Molefe did not declare his relationship with the Gupta family. It appears that the conduct of the Eskom board was solely to the benefit of Tegeta in awarding contracts to them, and in doing so, funded the purchase of Optimum Coal Holdings (OCH) and is thus in severe violation of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA),” reads the report.
The report also notes that communications were made during a critical period and cannot be ignored.
Ngubane said at Eskom’s group half-yearly financial results presentation, “The public protector’s report is speculative, no one should be allowed to tear down this country based on speculation.” The results show that Eskom has increased its revenue by 10.5 per cent. Ngubane added that the Eskom board was fully behind their CEO and he warned that should Molefe resign, Madonsela must take the blame.