- South Africa’s state owned and state run power utility, Eskom, welcomes the arrest of its employee linked to alleged tender irregularities at Kriel Power Station.
- The arrest on 20 July 2023 comes after a thorough investigation by Eskom’s Forensic department, which received a tip-off from a member of the public on 28 October 2022 about alleged corruption relating to a tender for the provision of Coal Yard Lighting for a period of 12 months at Kriel Power Station.
The investigations revealed that after the closing date, four service providers have responded to the request for proposals (RFPs). Subsequent to all necessary evaluations, the Buyer approached the key stakeholders involved in the evaluation process to request the supplier to submit another bid with inflated price, with an understanding that the difference between the original price and the new price would be shared among themselves. The supplier then submitted another bid with a new tender value almost double the initial amount and was appointed. The supplier started paying those involved an amount of R25 000 each on separate occasions, with the first payment made on 21 October 2022.
The matter was reported to Eskom’s Forensic department by one of the recipients of the money, whom the department and members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) Commercial Crime Unit accompanied to Boksburg North Police Station, where a case of fraud was registered. An amount of R25 000 was also handed in at the police station. The criminal case was then transferred to Kriel Police Station.
Another payment of R25 000 was made to the same recipient in around March 2023 and was also handed in to the police as evidence.
In a latest development, the whistle-blower informed Eskom that a third payment will take place on Thursday, 20 July 2023. Eskom alerted the police of the pending exchange of money. The accused, who is employed as a Project Coordinator at Kriel Power Station was arrested and taken to Kriel Police Station for processing. A new case of corruption was registered, and the employee was charged accordingly.
A search was conducted at the accused’s house in eMalahleni where an amount of R16 600 was seized by the police.
The accused appeared at the Middelburg Specialised Commercial Crime Court on Monday, 24 July 2023, and was released on bail. The arrest of all the role players in this matter is imminent.
Whilst most of our employees are hardworking, focusing on ensuring that they deliver on their daily job outputs and strive to do their uttermost best to improve Eskom’s performance, we are cognisant of the few who are corrupt amongst us. The arrest of the Project Coordinator and others in the past is therefore a step in the right direction in ridding the organisation of corruption and gives impetus to Eskom’s stance of zero tolerance to crime and corruption.
Source: Eskom
