- Eskom’s acting head of security, Karen Pillay, has been placed on precautionary suspension.
- Eskom is South Africa’s state owned and state-run energy utility which 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 matter allegedly relates to a R500 million emergency security contract awarded to Fidelity Services without going to tender. At the time, South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, deloyed 880 national defence force members to safeguard power stations around the country. Read more
Eskom’s acting head of security Karen Pillay. Image credit – LinkedIn
Eskom explains that 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.
Related news: High ranking Eskom official allegedly involved in sabotage
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.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
