Minister Brown’s ultimatum to Eskom
At a meeting today with Eskom’s Acting Chairperson Zethemba Khoza and Acting Group Chief Executive of Eskom, Johnny Dladla, the Minister of Public Enterprises Lynne Brown questioned the electricity utility's commitment to speedily addressing allegations of maladministration and corruption, thereby beginning to restore public confidence.
The Minister in particular expressed her disappointment at Eskom's inappropriate and tardy responses to questions she asked relating to its business relationship with Trillian. The Minister received a report on 1 September 2017 from Eskom that was not signed off by the Chairperson. The report contained glaring gaps, and the Minister requested further information.
It was recently revealed that information Eskom provided the Minister about its dealings with Trillian, which she used to respond to Parliamentary questions, was inaccurate.
At today’s meeting, the Minister issued Eskom with a final ultimatum. The Board is meeting on Monday; on Tuesday she wants a briefing on the resolutions the Board has reached on the following issues:
- Disciplinary processes;
- Investigations into questionable contracts;
- Stability in the company and particular the Executive team;
- Why it took the Legal Department 5 days to present the report to the Board after the report was given to the Minister without it receiving Board approval.
- What happened between the first and second media statements Eskom issued about Trillian in June 2017?
The briefing must specifically include an update on investigative and disciplinary processes with respect to former Acting Group Chief Executive Matshela Koko and Chief Financial Officer Anoj Singh – and definitive answers to the Trillian questions.
The Minister further expects the Board to present her with a roadmap with specific timelines to bring finality to all issues.
She told the Eskom bosses that the ongoing leaking of confidential information was not helping the utility’s public image, and that it was inappropriate for the shareholder representative to be informed of Eskom’s internal affairs through the media.
The Minister said that the report the Chairperson presents to her on Tuesday would help her to determine the scope and nature of the decisive action required to restore Eskom’s credibility.
For enquiries contact:
Colin Cruywagen
Cell: 082 3779916.
