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‘Your pipe is filled with strong stuff!!”
This is how radio host Eusebius McKaiser has responded to a claim by Just Coal CEO Joe Singh that McKaiser somehow goaded him into stating in a live radio interview that he paid the ANC Youth League R500 000 to improve its connections to Eskom.
In a interview with McKaiser on Monday, Singh admitted he paid the youth league the money, saying that it was meant to influence Eskom acting CEO Matshela Koko.
"Oh, we did have an expectation, that's for sure, you know, the expectation was that we have someone politically aligned that can deal with Koko because we believe that Koko is such a powerful person inside Eskom. He uses the might of Eskom to do anything he wants to do," he said.
Singh also said that the money was given to the ANCYL because it "obviously needs certain donations, and we are interested in the youth".
Eskom had in March cancelled its contract with Just Coal due to “its consistent supply of inferior coal”
“This is in breach of its contractual obligations to Eskom. The result is that Eskom is burning an unknown combustion characteristic coal resource at its Tutuka Power Station, potentially resulting in load losses,” said Koko at the time.
Backtracking
On Friday Singh scheduled a press conference to explain what he meant in the interview, but failed to pitch.
His company’s head of communications Sisanda Nomusa Qwabe-Coutaud and its attorney Brandon Tshabangu instead read a statement and answered questions from the media.
Qwabe-Coutaud claimed McKaiser had “pressured Mr Joe Singh into acknowledging statements he had not made".
"It is unclear if this was motivated by ignorance, the desire for a sensational story, or a broader attempt to influence the ANC elective conference," she said.
After the conference ended Singh – whose Twitter bio describes him as a “pastor, prophet, businessman and father” tweeted that he now expected an apology from McKaiser
Behalf #joesinghgroup & #justcoal we like to thank entire #media for attending. Everyone is now clear @Eusebius is wrong. We demand #apology
— Joe Singh (@rameshjoesingh) September 29, 2017
In response Mckaiser tweeted:
I must apologise for YOUR ON AIR confession that you paid R500K hoping ANCYL can influence Koko? Your pipe is filled with strong stuff!! Mxm https://t.co/rFxMZrKKrZ
— Eusebius McKaiser (@Eusebius) September 29, 2017
Singh also tweeted "#Joesingh is entirely unfairly treated" and "No #BRIBERY here".
At Friday’s media conference, Qwabe-Coutaud claimed that the interview with McKaiser “selectively described events” although it was broadcast live.
"The interview by McKaiser on 702, which was subsequently rebroadcasted on various media outlets, selectively describes events and pressured Mr Joe Singh into acknowledging statements he had not made," she said at the Burgers Park Hotel in Pretoria.
She also claimed the phone line was not clear when Singh did the radio interview, and that he had even answered questions he hadn't been asked because of this.
In response to a request for comment on Friday evening, Primedia Broadcasting- which owns 702 and Cape Talk - said the public should listen to the original audio and make up their own minds about what Singh meant.
On Tuesday, meanwhile, the DA's public enterprises spokesperson Natasha Mazzone called on Singh to"immediately be arrested".
"Singh’s shameless on-air confession is an admission of guilt and (ANCYL President Collen) Maine’s acceptance of the questionable 'donation' points towards his complicity in a crime," she said.
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