South African power utility, Eskom confirmed on Wednesday that former acting chief executive Matshela Koko and former acting group executive for group capital, Prish Govender, have been reinstated after they were cleared in disciplinary hearings.
Eskom spokesperson, Khulu Phasiwe, said that the disciplinary hearings for the executives had been transparent and fair.
Phasiwe said after the hearing was completed, the chairperson of the hearing gave the report to the board of Eskom on 15 December after which they read it and informed the minister of public enterprises that they should make this information public.
Koko was facing six charges, among others, for allegedly failing to declare a conflict of interest after a company in which his stepdaughter had shares, Impulse International, was awarded a R1 billion tender by a division he led when he was group executive for Generation.
“In December 2017, the Eskom Board received the final report from the chairperson of the disciplinary case involving suspended Eskom group executive for Generation, Mr Matshela Koko. The report found Mr Koko not guilty of any wrongdoing and he has now been reinstated to his position with effect from 02 January 2018,” Phasiwe said.
“The senior counsel investigating allegations of impropriety in the McKinsey/Trillian matter has also cleared Mr Prish Govender and he has thus also been reinstated to his position as the acting group executive for Group Capital. The investigation found that there was nothing untoward he had done on his part, but if there are any aggrieved parties or individuals or [they] may have other information that the board may not have had at a time, they can bring it forward.”
Eskom has since made demands to recover the more than R1.5 billion it had unlawfully paid to McKinsey and Trillian without contracts.
Phasiwe said that Govender has already reported for duty from Tuesday while Koko will be starting work next week on Monday. He said that the public must also remember that there is a parliamentary inquiry into Eskom’s affairs, especially its coal contracts and its corporate governance, which will resume soon.
The Democratic Alliance’s (DA) public enterprises spokeswoman Natasha Mazzone accused Eskom of trying to hide something about these reinstatements since it has not released an official statement.
Last month, the DA filed criminal charges against Koko for alleged breach of the Public Finance Management Act.
Meanwhile, suspended Eskom chief financial officer Anoj Singh is yet to know the date in which he would be called to testify before Parliament’s inquiry into the power utility after he infuriated MPs in December by submitting 400 pages of documentation less that 24 hours before his scheduled appearance. (Via African News Agency)
Oil And Gas Firm Efora Says Deal To Buy Belton Park Lapses
Oil and gas company Efora Energy said on Tuesday its agreement to acquire the assets and operations of Belton Park Trading 134 had lapsed after outstanding conditions were not fulfilled.
In October, Efora said it was buying Belton Park, which markets and sells petroleum products for an aggregate purchase consideration of R220 million.
“Shareholders are hereby advised that certain outstanding conditions precedent to the acquisition were not fulfilled,” it said on Tuesday.
“Accordingly, the acquisition agreement has lapsed.”
