Dear Minister Ramokgopa, here is a list of corruption cases impacting Eskom Story by Vincent Cruywagen ? Thursday

The new minister of electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, said this week that Eskom's challenges were technical problems that had nothing to do with ‘so-called corruption’. Well, that is simply not so, with reports of corruption frequently uncovered by the media, and some cases with law enforcement agencies and the courts. The South African Police Service is currently investigating 131 Eskom-related cases, while the Hawks have 83 cases across six provinces, with 18 in court.

Dear Minister Ramokgopa, here is a list of corruption cases impacting Eskom

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The Eskom cases before courts include:

1. Ex-Eskom executive France Hlakudi is one of several people accused of fraud, corruption, and money laundering in connection with an allegedly fraudulent?R745-million contract involving the Kusile Power Station.
2. In March 2022, the Asset Forfeiture Unit obtained a freezing order valued at R2.4-billion related to the Optimum Coal Mine and its assets, bought with the proceeds of crime by the Gupta-owned Tegeta company.
3. In October 2022, former Eskom acting CEO Matshela Koko, his wife, and two stepdaughters were among eight people?arrested on corruption charges?relating to a multimillion-rand irregular contract for building the Kusile Power Station. The charges stem from a 2015 contract awarded to the Swiss conglomerate Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) to install control and instrumentation systems at the power station.
4. In November 2022,?two security guards were arrested?in connection with the theft of diesel worth R145,930 from an Eskom plant. The guards were employed by a security company contracted by Eskom and had been guarding the Port Rex gas turbine station in East London.
5. Also in November?2022,?Eskom reported?multiple arrests linked to sabotage, coal theft, and?coal fraud?at Camden Power Station.
6. Around 30 November 2022, a?truck driver and his supervisor?from a transport company subcontracted to haul coal to Eskom were arrested at the Matla Power Station. The arrests took place after the truck driver was found to be in possession of subgrade coal destined for the facility.
7. Angelo Cysman, a 40-year-old plant operator at the Ankerlig Power Station in Atlantis, is?accused of stealing diesel worth R500,000.?He was released on R50,000 bail by the Atlantis Magistrate’s Court in December last year. It is alleged he allowed a vehicle to collect stolen diesel from the site, declared the diesel tanker was empty and all the fuel offloaded, and then allowed the vehicle to leave with the stolen load.?DM

Read more about the?cartels operating in Eskom

Read Ramokgopa's comments - that the troubles at Eskom had nothing to do with corruption in?Daily Maverick.

Read:?Much of De Ruyter's corruption claims not new and the response to them is political posturing,?by Marianne Merten.