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Cape Town – The Democratic Alliance (DA) has made startling claims that Eskom is destroying key documents and correspondence regarding the reappointment of CEO Brian Molefe.
DA MP Natasha Mazzone told Fin24 that an impeccable source revealed this was taking place a day after the Eskom board appeared before the portfolio committee on public enterprises in Parliament.
“The DA wouldn’t make a call like that (revealing this allegation) without 100% trust and faith in our source,” she said. “It’s a sad day when people fear for the safety and that of their families that whistle blowers have to remain so completely anonymous.”
Eskom denied the allegation. "We are not aware of the incident alluded to by the DA,” said Suzanne Daniels, head of legal at Eskom. “To the extent that Ms Mazonne has sent out a statement on the matter, we hope she has reported the alleged serious criminal activity to the police as she is required by the law.”
Mazzone said she reported the matter to Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown’s office. “Lynne Brown … must investigate and confirm if this is the case, and if it is, must ensure that no further documents are destroyed.”
READ: Fraud cloud over Molefe's reappointment
Brown’s spokesperson Colin Cruywagen said he was “not aware of any correspondence from the DA”, but added he was not in the office.
Furthermore, Mazzone said she won’t report the matter to the police in order to protect her source. “The only way I will get information is that they (the sources) know I won’t reveal them, which is why I can’t take it to the police,” she said. “That is why I have referred it directly to Lynne Brown’s office, who is the stakeholder who oversees the entity and who reports to our committee.”
Brown has placed the decision of Molefe’s future in the hands of a court. She revealed this on Monday in a responding affidavit to the DA’s court challenge to reverse Molefe’s reappointment.
Molefe returned to Eskom in May following the surprise revelation that he did not resign in November 2016, but was actually given early retirement. When Brown discovered in media reports that his pension pay-out was R30m, she ordered the board to reverse this. Their compromise, they said, was to bring him back as CEO. Molefe had been an ANC MP for three months and had to resign from this post.
Besides the court case, the portfolio committee on public enterprises has decided to launch an official inquiry into the Molefe matter.
READ: Eskom welcomes back ‘Papa Action’ Molefe amid scramble to undo reappointment
Mazzone said that this “information combined with the series of revelations over the last week only strengthen the DA’s call for an urgent and full-scale Parliamentary inquiry into what is actually going on at Eskom”.
“The sooner this inquiry begins, the better,” she said in a written statement. “There are documents and reports with copies – they can’t destroy certain things, as these documents exist elsewhere.”
Daniels said Eskom has instructed their lawyers “to deal with the matter appropriately”.
“We however find it curious that she has chosen to sensationalise the matter by publicising it prior to alerting Eskom to it,” said Daniels.
Responding to this, Mazzone said: “Bring it on.”
“(Former acting Eskom CEO) Matshela Koko is suing me and the DA for R20m, Eskom is suing me for R30m and Brian Molefe is suing me for R30m,” she said.
Eskom is suing her for defamation over her response to the Dentons report and court papers arrived at the end of February, she said.
“We have opposed the court papers and the ball is now in their court,” she said. “We intend defending ourselves.
“If they think this intimidation tactic will stop me, they have not learnt anything: my first obligation is to the SA public,” she said.
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