‘Impossible’ that 80% of Eskom staff corrupt – Makwana

Eskom chairman Mpho Makwana has dismissed reported claims by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) that up to 80% of Eskom staff are corrupt.

Makwana says this is impossible.

He was commenting on a Financial Mail report on a discussion at the end of January between the NUM and public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan.

The union said that load-shedding was a direct result of corruption at Eskom, and that between 70% and 80% of Eskom’s 42 000 employees were engaged in some sort of corrupt activity.

Former Eskom generation executive Rhulani Mathebula said fraud and corruption are the power utility’s biggest problems.

Makwana told Newzroom Africa’s Xoli Mngambi that he believed it was impossible for 80% of Eskom’s employees to be corrupt.

He said the Eskom executive team led by André de Ruyter had made a presentation to the State Capture Commission on what was being done to address corruption at the company.

The commission applauded Eskom for the proactive work it was doing, he said.

The work of Eskom’s state-capture task team had resulted in three former Eskom board members being arrested, and two having assets forfeited, Makwana said.

‘Two former Eskom chief executives are in court, and a former chief financial officer has been stripped of his rights as a chartered accountant’.

‘Many other former executives’ had been reported to the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission to be declared delinquent directors.

An independent law firm had created an internal intelligence unit for Eskom.

Moreover, no Eskom board member or anyone close to one was allowed to do business with the company.

‘We want to have a board leadership and executive leadership who are above reproach in any way you can look at it,’ he said.

[Image: Wolfgang Brauner from Pixabay]