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DA: Eskom must reveal details of contract linked to Zuma adviser

Cape Town – The Democratic Alliance (DA) will try to force Eskom to gain access to tender documents which resulted in a company, linked to President Jacob Zuma’s energy adviser, receiving a R149m-contract from the power utility. 

Natasha Mazzone, the DA's shadow minister of public enterprises, said in a statement her party will submit an application in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) to gain access to the documents detailing the transaction. 

The Sunday Times reported that a company of which President Jacob Zuma’s energy adviser Silas Zimu is a non-executive director won a R149m-contract at Eskom seven months after his appointment. 

Cape Gate Parepha was awarded a contract to supply Eskom with wiring in 2016/17. Zimu has been a non-executive director at Cape Gate Parepha since 2006. 

Details of the deal emerged in auditor notes in an ongoing auditor-general’s audit of a sample of 12 instances where government employees have conducted business with the state without declarations, according to the Sunday Times. Eskom denied that such an audit is taking place at the power utility, but the Sunday Times says it has seen spreadsheets detailing the audit progress. 

READ: Matshela Koko's stepdaughter nets R1bn in Eskom contracts 

Zimu, who was appointed as energy adviser in July 2015, was flagged by the auditor-general for his position as a board member of Centlec, the power utility of the Mangaung municipality. 

Asked for comment, the Presidency told the Sunday Times it was unaware of Zimu’s alleged ties to Eskom, but that it would “talk to him” about the matter. 

Zimu on the other hand said he had resigned from Cape Gate Marepha in November 2016, but hadn’t submitted his resignation letter yet, due to his busy schedule. 

“The letter is on my desk,” the Sunday Times quoted him as saying. 

'Zuma, Eskom must explain'

Mazzone said it is shocking that either Zimu, as a political adviser to the President, failed to declare his interests, or that Zuma thought it acceptable to keep an adviser who "simultaneously profits" from public spending in the energy sector.

"The DA will therefore also put in parliamentary questions to President Zuma on his knowledge of Zimu's business interests, specifically which interests were declared to the President and which were not."

Officials barred from doing business with government

Former public service and administration minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi in September last year stated that government officials would no longer be allowed to do business with government, or be directors of companies that conduct business with government or state-owned entities.

READ: Honeymoon over for govt employees doing business with state  

A review of the Public Service Regulations that came into effect in the beginning of 2017 makes it unlawful to have any such dealings and determines that state officials who have interests in companies that do business with any organ of state must either resign or give up their interests.

One thousand cases of public officials doing business with state identified 
 
In an exclusive interview with Fin24, acting chief procurement officer Schalk Human said his office doesn’t entertain public servants doing business with the public service. 

“One thousand such instances could be identified and they were reported to the Department of Public Service and Administration and the first disciplinary hearings have been concluded,” he said.

State procurement amounted to approximately R500bn in the last financial year, President Jacob Zuma said earlier. However, he lamented the fact that this has failed to change South Africa’s skewed ownership and control of the economy.

READ: Zuma: New procurement law will grow black business

To this end, National Treasury published the final Preferential Procurement Regulations, which came into force on April 1, which will govern state procurement, pending the promulgation of the Public Procurement Bill. 

The Bill, which is expected to be introduced to Parliament later this year, aims to give black-owned business more opportunities to bid for state contracts. 

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