Riyaz Patel
The Hawks have arrested four people for alleged fraud, corruption and money laundering related to the construction of Kusile power station in Mpumalanga.
Their names have not yet been made public.
The South African Police Service first tweeted about the arrests of “former Eskom senior managers” Thursday morning.
Hawks spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi said two men had been arrested and would be appearing in a Johannesburg court Thursday.
He added that more arrests could follow.
In a joint statement later, the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said two former Eskom senior managers, two business directors and “seven companies” were expected to appear in court on Thursday.
The suspects have yet to appear.
According to the Hawks and the NPA, investigations revealed that the contract was “manipulated in a number of ways,” including an alleged:
- manipulation of the power utility’s procurement system by officials who occupied senior management positions;
- descoping of the contract at Kusile without justification; and
- conflict of interest by Eskom employees.
‘Descoping’ refers to reducing what a contract is set to deliver.
“In June 2015, Eskom’s Kusile project management team submitted a request to Eskom Procurement Committee for a mandate to negotiate and conclude a contract with one of the companies. The contract was approved on 2015 for R745 million to build two Air Cooled Condensers units at Kusile power station,” said the NPA and the Hawks.
“It is alleged that from February 2015 to July 2017, the appointed companies, other related entities and individuals shared approximately R30 million amongst themselves.”
A spokesperson for Eskom referred queries to law enforcement.
Kusile is a coal-fired Eskom power plant under construction in Mpumalanga.
Together with is sister plant Medupi, it is billions of rands over budget and years behind schedule.
