Gordan denies ‘doing nothing’ to curb Eskom corruption
Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has dismissed claims that he
stood by and did nothing when he became aware of the levels of corruption at
Eskom.
Gordhan appeared before Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts on Wednesday, which has grilled various state players following a television interview in which former CEO André de Ruyter made explosive allegations of corruption, maladministration, sabotage, and political interference at Eskom.
MPs quizzed the minister on the actions he took to involve the Special Investigating Unit to probe the misdeeds at the power utility.
"One of the questions, apparently that's been raised is you knew about corruption and what did you do,” Gordhan said.
“Firstly, I in fact asked for some staff to be set aside and for them to collect all the forensic investigation reports from all the SEOs. I then decided on legal advice that the SIU is requested to review the forensic reports."
Gordhan said the SIU's involvement resulted in several findings around various SOEs and not just Eskom.
READ: Eskom refutes claims of imminent grid collapse
"The SIU launched an investigation into 14 coal transportation service providers as a consequence five employees were suspended. One resigned during the interview, the SIU referred 5620 matters to Eskom, 10 officials red-flagged through lifestyle audits, 10 were referred through whistle-blower reports and so on."
