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The commission of inquiry into state capture heard on Monday morning that Eskom's former chief financial officer, Anoj Singh, allegedly approved documents related to business financing proposals without the authority to do so, and tried to protect China Huarong Energy Africa from due scrutiny.
This is according to testimony by Sincedile Shweni from the treasury department at Eskom.
The commission, chaired by deputy chief justice Ray Zondo, is probing allegations of state capture, corruption and fraud in the public sector.
Shweni told the commission on Monday that an Eskom delegation had travelled to China with an intention to further explore a finance offer from Huarong.
The terms of the controversial loan would include a $30m cancellation fee and a R400m "signature fee", as Fin24 reported in January of 2018.
Shweni was of the view that the agreement with Eskom placed Huarong at an advantage over other potential lenders, but said Eskom's Assets and Liabilities Commitee did not know how to handle the situation, as the negotiations with Huarong were at an advanced stage.
On Friday, the commission had heard details of how Singh allegedly drove the process for the R25bn loan facility from Huarong.
Before presenting his evidence, Shweni told Judge Raymond Zondo that he had worked at Eskom since 2001, when he started as an analyst in the generation department.
He's also worked in the power utility's treasury and project management departments.
Shweni told the commission he was aware of a trip that an Eskom delegation took to China, where he believes Eskom entered into an agreement with Huarong. He said a series of fees linked to a subsequent agreement between Eskom and Huarong was suspect.
'Head start'
"The committee that was evaluating proposals did not set aside the proposal of Huarong. It appeared Huarong was getting special treatment, but they [the committee] did not know how to deal with it. None of the other parties had their terms sheets signed and, in that sense, Huarong got a head start," said Shweni.
Eskom head of treasury, Andre Pillay, told the commission last week that Huarong had approached the power utility with the unsolicited offer in 2015. It is not clear from the testimony when exactly the Eskom delegation travelled to meet Huarong.
The term sheet was signed in March 2017 by Singh and the chairperson of Huarong, despite concerns that proper procurement processes were not followed, which included obtaining a legal opinion on the matter.
Shweni said on Monday that Singh’s actions subverted the "request for information" and "request for proposal" processes which the entity had to adhere to. Singh resigned from Eskom in early 2018.
These processes included notifying National Treasury if Eskom would overlook bidding processes because the selected business was a sole supplier of goods and services Eskom needed.
