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Cape Town – Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown said she would “happily” support any investigation into Eskom if there’s documented evidence of wrongdoing.
Brown was responding to parliamentary questions posed by the DA’s Natasha Mazzone, Marshall Dlamini from the EFF and Narend Singh from the IFP.
READ: Matshela Koko's stepdaughter nets R1bn in Eskom contracts
Mazzone asked Brown whether interim Eskom CEO Matshela Koko shouldn’t be suspended amid allegations that his stepdaughter unduly benefited from R1bn in contracts awarded by Eskom. Law firm Cliffe Decker Hofmeyr had been appointed to investigate the matter.
Update on Koko probe
Brown said the investigation into the allegations were ongoing and she expects a report on the matter by the end of this week. “But in essence Mr Koko is not the person accused of anything,” she added.
Earlier in the question and answer session, Brown elaborated on the R7bn contract that was awarded to the Koornfontein Mine to supply coal to Eskom.
“In 2008,” Brown said, “Eskom signed a number of contracts with coal-plus mines which were approved on the basis of a medium-term mandate which was supposed to last until 2018.”
The mine was initially owned by Glencore and then bought by Tegeta Exploration and Resources, which is owned by the Gupta family and President Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane.
READ: Noise about Tegeta all about the Guptas - Eskom spokesperson
The change of ownership from Glencore to Tegeta did not require for the contract to be changed, Brown said, and the medium-term mandate was still intact.
She pointed out that the PricewaterhouseCoopers report that was under discussion during a Parliamentary briefing earlier on Wednesday did not involve the Koornfontein Mine.
Brown said the National Treasury did not oppose the extension of the coal supply contract between Eskom and the Koornfontein Mine.
