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Cape Town – Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown has slammed a media report alleging that she asked the Eskom board to not suspend the power utility’s former acting CEO Matshela Koko, saying it is tantamount to spreading false gossip.
The Sunday Times reported that a last-minute phone call from Brown is believed to have prevented Koko from being suspended in March this year.
Former Eskom board chairperson Ben Ngubane reportedly called a special meeting on March 2 with the intention to suspend him in connection with multi-million rand contracts awarded to a company of which his stepdaughter was a director.
The Sunday Times, citing a source, said Brown called Ngubane "out of the blue", ordering him not to go through with the suspension.
Colin Cruywagen, Brown’s spokesperson, said Brown interacts regularly with the boards of state-owned entities and to conclude that she manipulated board functions just because she spoke to a particular board member on a specific day is insulting.
"To publish this conclusion, buffed by hearsay and speculation is tantamount to spreading false gossip."
He added that decisions to suspend executives at state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are the boards’ responsibility.
"If the Sunday Times is in possession of the Minister's phone records she would like to know how the publication obtained them and if they were legally obtained."
Koko was placed on special leave in May pending an investigation by Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr regarding allegations that Impulse International, a company of which Koko’s stepdaughter Koketso Choma was a director, had won nine contracts totalling R348.6m awarded between July 2014 and early 2017.
Koko was made acting chief executive after Brian Molefe's "retirement", but was placed on special leave when Molefe returned briefly in May. Koko remains head of generation, despite being on leave.
Eskom recently hit back at reports insinuating that it was "dragging its feet" in the disciplinary action against Koko.
The power utility’s human resources executive Elsie Pule said the reports by both Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr and Nkonki following a forensic investigation into the contracts went through an entire process of edification, as critical documents, presentations and submissions by various parties internally and externally were required in strict accordance with a fair process.
She also stressed that appointments and terminations of employment of executives and senior management are required to be approved by the governance committee and a sub-committee of the board.
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