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Cape Town - Minister of Public Enterprises Lynne Brown has questioned power utility Eskom’s commitment to addressing allegations of corruption and maladministration.
In a sharply-worded media statement issued on Friday evening following her meeting with Eskom's acting chairperson Zethembe Khoza and its acting group CEO Johnny Dladla, Brown said she had “expressed her disappointment at Eskom’s inappropriate and tardy responses” to questions about Eskom’s business relationship with Trillian.
Brown has repeatedly been asking the Eskom board to furnish her with information about payments it made to the Gupta-linked financial advisory firm.
Questions over Eskom's relationship with Trillian follow media reports that global management consulting Oliver Wyman pressured Eskom to "come clean" after Eskom initially claimed that a R1.6bn payment to Trillian and consultancy firm McKinsey was above board.
Brown has been asking the Eskom board to explain what happened.
Final ultimatum
In her statement, Brown said she had given the Eskom board a “final ultimatum” to explain the Trillian matter, saying she wanted “definitive answers”.
She said that on Tuesday the board must give her a briefing on internal disciplinary processes, investigations into “questionable” contracts, and conflicting media statements Eskom has put out about it relationship with Trillian.
“The Minister further expects the Board to present her with a roadmap with specific timelines to bring finality to all issues,” read the statement.
The minister will also ask for updates on the status of disciplinary actions against Eskom's former CFO Anoj Singh.
In late August the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse lodged complaints of corruption and financial misconduct against Singh, alleging that he was an "invaluable" cog in the wheel of the Gupta empire.
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