An electronic sign informs visitors of performance statistics at the entrance to the Grootvlei power station, operated by Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., in Grootvlei, South Africa, on Monday, Nov. 3, 2014. Photographer, Dean Hutton, Bloomberg.
Eskom yesterday welcomed the arrests of two former employees of former contractor the ABB Group (ABB), as well as their spouses, for corruption linked to Eskom contracts of R2.2 billion, following action by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), which claims to be much rejuvenated.
“Eskom also hopes this is just the beginning and that more arrests will follow on this matter, and on the more than 100 other criminal cases lodged with the law enforcement agencies over the years,” the power utility, which is struggling operationally and financially, due in part to large scale corruption in previous years, said in a statement yesterday.
The four were arrested on Tuesday by the Investigating Directorate (ID) of the NPA, in a joint operation with the Hawks and the South African Revenue Service, for corruption that defrauded Eskom in a contract awarded to Swiss engineering group ABB in 2015.
As a result of the influence of the suspects, ABB, in turn, irregularly appointed Impulse International as a sub-contractor on a R549.6m portion of the work.
Eskom said it would do everything it could to assist the investigations to bring about successful prosecutions.
Former ABB employees Mohammed Mooidheen and Vernon Pillay stood accused of using their influence and cashing in on irregular gratifications estimated at R8.6m, which included cash and luxury vehicles, in irregularly awarding to Impulse a R549.6m sub-contract for work at Kusile Power Station.
Their spouses are also alleged to have benefited from the crime.
Some assets belonging to the suspects and their spouses were seized by the Asset Forfeiture Unit. The suspects were released on bail and will appear in court on October 14, 2022.
The Zondo Commission of Enquiry established that Eskom was one of the main crime scenes of state capture, and this case was one of the seminal matters on which the State Capture Report recommended prosecutions.
In December 2020, ABB South Africa agreed to pay Eskom R1.58bn of funds that it had been irregularly paid after it voluntarily disclosed collusion with certain Eskom officials to irregularly award it a R2.2bn control and instrumentation contract for Kusile Power Station in 2015.
Mohammed and Raeesa Mooiheen appeared at the Randburg Magistrate’s Court and were granted bail of R50 000 and R30 000 each. Vernon and Aradhna Pillay, who were arrested in Durban, and appeared at the Durban Specialised Crimes Court, were granted R20 000 bail each. The accused were charged with corruption, fraud and money laundering.
Advocate Anton du Plessis, Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions at the NPA, writing on their website days ago, said after a difficult 2020/2021 where the organisation’s performance was negatively impacted by Covid-19 and budget shortfalls, a number of tailored interventions were implemented to address priority challenges.
“These paid off, and our overall performance has improved markedly. Conviction rates are sharply up in a number of key areas, particularly when it comes to two of society’s greatest ills: corruption and gender-based violence,” he said.
He said the NPA’s leading state capture corruption unit, the ID, had enrolled over 20 matters, charged 65 accused and the Asset Forfeiture Unit obtained freezing orders to the value of R5.5bn, including the single biggest restraint of R3.78bn obtained with respect to Optimum Coal Mine, a major asset in the Gupta network.
In addition to the ID, the Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit had finalised 380 cases, with 344 convictions, a conviction rate of 90.5 percent. The number of government employees convicted of corruption increases to 119 from 86 year on year, he said.
edward.west@inl.co.za
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