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Johannesburg - Energy regulator (Nersa) heard on Friday corruption and mismanagement are causing major cost escalations at power utility Eskom.
Ted Blom, an independent consultant who worked at Eskom for 20 years, highlighted examples of irregularities at the utility and said these are being swept under the carpet. Blom was the person who disclosed Canadian consultant Susan Olsen's report on coal shortages were ignored by Eskom's former CEO Jacob Maroga.
Eskom, Blom said, ignored rules by awarding contracts worth millions without putting them out to tender. These abuses specifically took place at the new coal-fired power station Kusile, adding the new station costs three to five times more than similar projects elsewhere in the world.
Blom said another example of mismanagement was the awarding of a recent coal contract at Eskom's Hendrina power station. The contract, also awarded without asking for tenders, doubled coal costs for the power station.
Blom gave his evidence to Nersa under oath and said he had proof that he could make available to the regulator on request.
He said Eskom could not be trusted with public money, adding he had personally handed a large number of dossiers filled with evidence of irregularities to Eskom's forensic divisions, but nothing had eventuated.
In January 2008, two days before power cuts had crippled the country, he warned Eskom that South Africa was on the edge of a precipice. This warning was e-mailed to various senior managers and sent to at least one of the top six executives at Eskom. Sake24.com has a copy of this e-mail, as well as the names of the Eskom managers who received it. In the e-mail Blom warned that coal stocks at Eskom's power stations were at a critical level.
Two days later, on January 24, Eskom announced a national electricity crisis. The following day Blom was warned in person to desist from sending e-mails to senior executives.
Eskom subsequently blamed the 2008 power crisis, which cost the economy millions, largely on problems with coal.
- Sake24.com
For more business news in Afrikaans, visit Sake24.com.