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Disband and investigate entire Eskom board - Cosatu

Cape Town - The board of Eskom should be disbanded and investigated for alleged corruption and wasteful expenditure, trade federation Cosatu said on Tuesday.

The call, issued in a statement by Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla, comes a day before Eskom announces its annual integrated results.

Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown said earlier on Tuesday she has “reason to question the veracity of some of the answers” the Eskom board and management team have given her in the past.

She has ordered the new interim board – which still contains members of the old board – to conduct specific investigations and provide recommendations to her.

This is on top of a Special Investigations Unit deep dive into allegations of state capture and a Parliamentary inquiry into the utility.

However, Cosatu has called for the full board to be disbanded and investigated.

“The board of Eskom should be disbanded and investigated for alleged corruption and wasteful expenditure,” said Pamla.

Pamla said Cosatu wants answers after an audit report by KPMG revealed Eskom “sneaked an inflated advance payment of R600m to Chinese firm Dongfang for a controversial R4bn tender to supply a new boiler at its Duvha power station in Mpumalanga”.

“The federation is worried that no one has so far been held responsible for the leadership bungling and the stench of corruption that has surrounded Eskom recently.”

Pamla said Cosatu will oppose Eskom’s 19.9% electricity tariff hike proposal, “especially under this compromised leadership”.

“The shenanigans at Eskom make a mockery of the ANC's commitment to ensure that state-owned entities operate as powerful instruments of economic transformation,” said Pamla.

“Eskom cannot respond effectively and efficiently to government's developmental agenda under this current leadership because Eskom's challenges are self-inflicted.”

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