The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) continued with its engagement with the Eskom board and executive to understand more fully the termination of the group CEO’s contract, the intelligence report into fraud and corruption at Eskom and the procurement of a R500 million security contract.
The committee was also interested to hear about any disciplinary action against employees accused of misconduct and fraud and what is being done to improve staff morale. The Acting Chairperson of Eskom’s board, Dr Claudelle von Eck, explained that the former group CEO’s contract was not terminated abruptly, as widely reported. In fact, he had already resigned when he gave the controversial television interview and had been serving out his notice. After the interview and being asked by the board to account for what he had said in the interview, he opted to leave immediately.
When asked by a member of the committee, Mr Bheki Hadebe, if the board had asked the former group CEO to hand over the intelligence report before he left, another Eskom board member, Ms Fathima Gany, responded by saying that he had not made the report available to the board, despite being asked to hand over anything relevant to the board. Dr von Eck added that the board would like a full understanding of who sponsored the report and why, so that it can decide on the course of action to take.
SCOPA Chairperson Mr Mkhuleko Hlengwa was at pains to emphasise that in his view the board should have pressed the former group CEO to account for what he said in the interview. Dr von Eck then explained that the board had made a decision based on what it knew at the time and without the information about an intelligence report. One of the considerations influencing the board’s decision was that at that time the CEO’s conduct was going to be subjected to independent investigation.
Mr Hlengwa was nonetheless adamant that this omission was a missed opportunity on the board’s part, as the conduct of the political actors, which was mentioned in the intelligence report is now not receiving the attention it should and there is no sense of urgency in dealing with these allegations.
As for disciplinary action against Eskom staff members, the utility has resolved to increase capacity to investigate cases of corruption and fraud, according to Eskom’s Human Resource Executive, Ms Elsie Pule.
In a discussion about security at various power stations, committee member Ms Alexandra Beukes asked if Eskom considers its current security apparatus effective. She added: “I am asking this because during our visit to Tutuka [power station] we were told of drone security systems on the plant. But it turned out that this system doesn’t conduct security in real time as expected.”
Eskom’s Acting General CEO, Mr Calib Cassim, replied that there are concerns about the current security system’s ability to protect infrastructure. Eskom is set to meet with the Energy Security Priority Committee to improve the situation.
Mr Hlengwa also raised his grave concern about a R500 million emergency security project granted to Fidelity Securities, which was not subjected to normal procurement procedures governing such contracts. However, he is pleased that this contract has now the subject of a forensic investigation and the manager of Eskom’s security has been suspended. He cautioned the new board to raise these matters as red flags.
He concluded by appealing to the board to crack the whip because: “The problem at Eskom is that people have entrenched themselves and their personal interest of fraud and corruption outside of corporate processes. Such individuals should be dealt with because boards come and go, employees are the permanent feature of Eskom. They are the ones who make or break our country. Please crack the whip in your tenure to ensure that corporate processes are followed by every employee of Eskom irrespective of his/her position in its hierarchy,” he reiterated.
Source: Parliament of South Africa