'It's our duty to touch nerves' - The #EskomInquiry adjourns for 2017 (but will be back next year)

With Khoza finishing his testimony, the committee has now officially adjourned for 2017.  

"You have done very good work," said the inquiry's chair Daphne Rantho. "You showed a bold and unwavering attitude." 

Rantho said the inquiry would continue in 2018. The committee will apply to Parliament to continue its hearings in the week before Parliament kicks off.

Rantho said evidence presented before the committee thus far raises serious questions over abuses of state resources

But the inquiry will not as this stage make any findings, as it still has to hear evidence from witnesses next year.

She thanked the committee members for their support, given that there are "people who do not want this committee to continue, this inquiry to go forward".

She did not name anyone in particular.

She also thanked the inquiry's evidence leader Ntuthuzelo Vanara. "You have lead this inquiry wholeheartedly, diligently," she said.

"We are serve the country, we are public representatives who were elected by people on the ground," she said. 

She thanked all witnesses who appeared before the committee, saying it had not been convened to accuse anybody", but rather to uncover what was happening at Eskom. 

And while the inquiry may have "touched on some nerves," Rantho said it "is our duty to touch those nerves". 

Eskom's acting board chair Zethembe Khoza has denied ever going to the house of the Guptas. 

He was asked the question by a combative Mzingisi Dlamini of the EFF in Parliament's oversight committee on public enterprises on Wednesday.

The question of whether witnesses have visited the Saxonwold compound of the Guptas has become routine during the inquiry, and almost all witnesses have been asked it.

Eskom's acting board chair Zethembe Khoza has rated corporate governance at the power utility at 3 out of 10.

He was asked the question by the IFP's Narend Singh. 

Khoza resumed his testimony before Parliament's oversight committee on public enterprises on Wednesday. 

This is the last day the committee will be sitting in 2017, although it will continue hearings in 2018.

'A misunderstanding' 

The Public Enterprises Committee has reconvened to hear that the matter of two Hawks officials asking the committee's chair for her personal details was a 'misunderstanding' and the officials were in fact there to aid the committee.

Earlier the inquiry's chair Daphne Rantho said she was 'disturbed' after two Hawks officials asked for her details. MP's were outraged, saying it appeared this amounted to an act of intimidation. 

But it now seems this was caused by a misunderstanding about why the officials were there. 

The committee's chair Lungi Mnganga-Gcabashe, taking over the inquiry's chairperson duties from Rantho, said the Hawks "meant no disrespect".

She was speaking to the committee after a 15 minute break.

"They (the Hawks) are already working with Scopa and assisting that committee, and also they will be assisting this committee on certain issues," said Mnganga-Gcabashe.

"We just want to apologise for the manner the matter was conveyed to the chairperson of the inquiry."

No MP's raised objections. 

The committee will now continue with questions to Eskom's board.

Parliament's Eskom inquiry has taken a 15 minute break after its chair said she had earlier been asked by two Hawks officials for her personal details. 

It was not clear who the two officials were, or when they asked the chair for her personal details. 

MP's were outraged with some saying this amounted to intimidation and considered asking everyone present at the meeting to say who they were. It was however decided to take a break to discuss the matter with legal counsel. 

"I am already disturbed," said the committee's chair Daphne Rantho, who said she didn't understand why she was asked as her details were well-known.  

The committee was set to continue hearing evidence from the Eskom board on Wednesday but proceedings have been delayed for over an hour. 

First, a motion was taken to subpoena Deputy Public Enterprises Minister Ben Martins to give evidence before the committee. 

Then two letters written by lawyers representing Ajay Gupta, saying he wanted an opportunity to respond to allegations of corruption levelled against him and the Gupta family during the inquiry's proceedings, were read out. 

While the name of the controversial Gupta family has been mentioned multiple times during Parliament's Eskom inquiry into allegations of state capture, the committee on Wednesday heard directly from the family from the first time. 

The committee received two letters from Ajay Gupta, which were read out by the committee's chairperson.

The two letters, from lawyers representing Ajay Gupta, asked that the Gupta family be given a chance to respond to allegations raised in the committee that they were involved in state capture. 

The committee's chair noted that the two letters were not signed.

While the name of Ajay Gupta was mentioned a number of times, the letter made specific reference to the testimony of suspended Eskom head of legal Suzanne Daniels.

Daniels, in earlier testimony, claimed that she met with Deputy Minister of Public Enterprises Ben Martins, Ajay Gupta, Salim Essa and Duduzane Zuma in a flat near Melrose Arch in July 2017. Daniels said that the meeting was to discuss an upcoming court case of former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe.

Martins has denied the meeting.

The legal letter noted that Ajay Gupta was not in South Africa at the time of the alleged meeting as he was travelling to a religious festival in India at the time. 

Parliament's oversight committee on public enterprises on Wednesday moved to subpoena Deputy Public Enterprises Minister Ben Martins to give evidence before the committee. 

The after the committee earlier invited Martins to give evidence, but he in turn submitted a letter to say this was not necessary. 

The committee's chair Daphne Rantho said she received a letter from the deputy minister saying that "it cannot be assumed that a response can only be legal in person" and it was "not necessary for me to appear before the committee".

The committee was unanimous that Martins, whose name has cropped up in the hearings, must appear to give oral evidence. 

The DA's Natasha Mazzone said Martins was "constitutionally obligated to appear ", while the EFF's Mzingisi Dlamini said "we must subpoena that drama queen".

The name of Martins cropped during the hearings, when suspended Eskom head of legal Suzanne Daniels claimed that she met with him, Ajay Gupta, Salim Essa and Duduzane Zuma in a flat near Melrose Arch in 2017.

Daniels said that the meeting was to discuss an upcoming court case of former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe.

Martins has denied the meeting.

“I am perplexed by Ms Suzanne Daniels’ testimony to the parliamentary inquiry into Eskom,” he said in a media statement in early November.

The committee has, over the past seven weeks, heard evidence from scores of witnesses including current and former high-ranking Eskom employees and board members, executives at firms that did business with the power utility, academics, and government officials. 

Read an overview of what transpired during the inquiry's first day, on October 17, below. 

Some seven weeks after it commenced, Parliament's oversight committee on public enterprises will on Wednesday wrap up its hearing into the mismanagement of public funds at state power utility Eskom. 

The committee is set to continue hearing evidence from Eskom board members starting at 09:30.