On Friday evening, Eskom and Deloitte announced that the consulting firm will pay back R150 million of its fees after an “irregular procurement process”.
In October last year, Eskom started legal action against Deloitte Consulting to recover more than R207m in fees. It accused Deloitte of securing two tenders and other work “improperly”. Deloitte did consulting work for Eskom from April 2016 to September 2017.
Read: The dirt on Deloitte's consulting deals at Eskom
Eskom and Deloitte said that they have resolved this dispute and that Deloitte will repay R150 million to Eskom, which is a portion of the original fees, in “full and final settlement of the matter”.
The amount was determined after "extensive negotiation" to avoid protracted and costly litigation.
The statement reads that investigations by Eskom and Deloitte showed no evidence of state capture or corruption and that Eskom “benefited from the services rendered by Deloitte”.
But they also confirmed that there were technical irregularities within the procurement process and Deloitte accepted that it “participated in this irregular procurement process”.
Last year, former Eskom chair Jabu Mabuza accused Deloitte of receiving contracts despite its prices being five times higher than those of its competitors.
He said Eskom had information that showed Eskom officials gave Deloitte off-the record briefings on proposals and that Deloitte was granted contracts even though its fees were more expensive than those of competitors. These contracts were modified to just under the ceiling price which requires Treasury approval, Mabuza claimed.