- Eskom would like to reassure South Africans that the placement of the Fidelity Services security contract was in line with Eskom’s Procurement Procedure and the National Treasury directives for emergency procurement of services.
- The state owned and state run energy utility is rife with corruption, looting, fraud, theft and sabotage. Read more
- South Africans will face daily blackouts of up to 16 hours this winter. Read more
- The utility has unsustainable debt of R438 billion. Read more
The placement of the security contract was necessitated by information received by management indicating that there was a potential serious security risk to Eskom’s operations and assets. The contract was established from the period July 2022 to September 2022 with an estimated budget of R500 million. It was placed under emergency procurement to avert potential threats and to safeguard critical sites at Eskom. The scope of the contract mainly focused on the critical power stations, strategic corporate sites as well the Transmission network.
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Prior to placement of the contract, Eskom assessed the quotation from the supplier in responding to Eskom’s request and was satisfied on proceeding with their offering including the prices quoted. Operationally, across Eskom sites there was daily and monthly monitoring of activities and the payment of the invoices over the 3 months were in line with the contracted services. A total of approximately R250 million including VAT was spent for the duration of the contract.
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Eskom is also aware of the publications on various media and internet platforms of unverified messages and claims of corruption and fraud linked to the R500 million contract. Given the seriousness of such allegations, Eskom will work with the relevant authorities on any investigation. In addition, Eskom encourages anyone with any credible evidence on concerns relating to this matter to contact the authorities. Eskom also urges the public to report information regarding all criminal activities to the police or Eskom Crime Line on 0800 11 27 22.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
