The Institute of Directors on Friday questioned "unsubstantiated
widespread criticism" of Eskom and the decision to award a tender
to a company in which the ANC holds a 25% share.
"The decision made by the Eskom board - a board appointed not
by the ANC but by government as main shareholder in Eskom - should
be respected as being a product of due process and having been made
in the best interests of Eskom, not the ANC or anyone else," a
statement from the institute's CEO, Lindie Engelbrecht
read.
The institute brings together leaders in the private and public
sectors and promotes sound corporate governance.
"We do agree that there may be a perceived conflict if any board
members are closely linked with or connected to the ANC, and we can
only assume that such a conflict was appropriately disclosed and
managed.
"However, to automatically conclude that there was some form of
preference during the board decision process is not reasonable and
by implication calls into question the integrity of board members
in fulfilling their fiduciary duties."
Opposition political parties said this week the ANC's investment
arm, Chancellor House, is set to earn billions from a contract with
the company Hitachi, to build power stations for Eskom in Limpopo
and Mpumalanga.
Democratic Alliance MP Sejamothopo Motau said there are
"compelling reasons" to believe that much of the money for building
the stations will come from Eskom's proposed increase in
electricity tariffs by 35% a year for three years.
"The array of information available now in the public domain
provides compelling reasons to believe that the ANC will benefit
from higher Eskom tariff hikes," he said in a statement.
ANC treasurer Mathews Phosa had promised to take steps to
disinvest the party's interest in Hitachi, which makes products
ranging from home appliances to industrial machinery.
However, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said this week
there was nothing wrong with the party holding a stake in Hitachi.
The ANC has not commented further on the matter, despite
requests to do so.
Motau said several documents were available publicly
demonstrating the Hitachi tender was flawed.
"Last year, for instance, we released a confidential Eskom memo
detailing how Hitachi's submission was relatively less applicable
than the Alstom submission.
"Likewise, the Eskom letter leaked in 2008, entitled 'Summary of
the Medupi Tender Process', demonstrates that the award of the R20bn Medupi boiler contract should have been granted to the Alstom-Steinmüller consortium, and not to
the Hitachi consortium."
Eskom had ensured Hitachi no longer had to compete with other
suppliers for tenders.
"As a consequence, for every coal power plant that is now
constructed, Hitachi's shareholders, including the ANC, are ensured
greater revenues," Motau said.
- Fin24.com