IN FULL: Eskom is a victim of 'naked lies'‚ says chairman

Eskom chairman Ben Ngubane on Friday repeated his denial of claims made by former minerals minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi‚ who has accused Ngubane and Eskom boss Brian Molefe of asking him to make decisions in favour of a Gupta-owned company.

Ramatlhodi's statements formed part of a comprehensive story by the amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism‚ published this week on EWN.

amaBhungane said it had found evidence that Molefe and Ngubane had helped squeeze a mining company out of business‚ so that a Gupta-owned company could buy it.

• LISTEN: Zuma's son on state capture - deport the Guptas, arrest the 'conspirators'President Jacob Zuma’s son Edward has spoken out on allegations of state capture‚ saying he supports calls for a commission of inquiry. 

Below is Ngubane's full statement‚ released on Friday morning.

MEDIA STATEMENT

Eskom Chairman rebuts the allegations of undue influence on former Minerals Minister Ramatlhodi

Friday‚ 19 May 2017: The barefaced lies by former Ngoako Ramatlhodi could only be sustained by unsuspecting or decidedly biased minds‚ said Dr Ben Ngubane following widespread reports suggesting that both he and Brian Molefe “pressured” him to suspend all the mining rights held by Glencore.

“It is absolutely implausible to suggest that a sitting‚ senior‚ minister could have been bullied by the officials of a state entity. One would have to be extremely biased against Eskom to even remotely consider these allegations to be true given their ridiculous nature. Such allegations by a former senior minister‚ with such a critical national mandate‚ are not only absurd‚ but highlight his own perception of his incompetence‚” said Dr Ngubane.

• It's ANC against Zuma as Molefe makes Eskom comebackThe newly reinstated head of South Africa’s power utility has been accused of attempting to influence a former minister, reversed plans to close power plants that his predecessor claimed weren’t needed, and set the country’s ruling party against its president. 

Dr Ngubane wondered why the former Minister failed to raise this purported violation at the correct time of its alleged occurrence.

“Did he approach the media at the time it alleged occurred? Did he report the matter to the police‚ if he did‚ what is his case number? Why has it only now become opportune to make these damaging allegations? One would have expected that a genuine moralist‚ which he claims to be‚ would have brought these serious allegations to the attention of the police and/or the media instantly. Genuine moralists do not hang their morality on convenience. This is evidently an opportune time for him to make the allegation and one can only wonder at his motive‚” said Dr Ngubane.

Even though his allegations are unseemly delayed‚ explained Ngubane‚ they should at least be truthful. “Unfortunately they are patently not!”

• Lynne Brown implicated in Gupta mine sagaPublic enterprises minister Lynne Brown has been drawn into the saga around how the influential Gupta family acquired a mine that gained lucrative contracts from power utility Eskom. 

“For instance‚ while in his previous position as Minister‚ Ramatlhodi stated‚ according to the media reports‚ that he suspended Glencore Optimum’s licence because it did not conduct retrenchments properly. At no point did he allude to us being the reason thereof‚” Dr Ngubane elaborated.

“But he has suddenly decided to self-shame by contradicting himself with his current public statements. He has shamelessly suggested that the licence suspension was not based on the manner in which Glencore handled the retrenchments‚ as widely quoted in the media‚” Dr Ngubane said.

Dr Ngubane lamented the current narrative about Eskom. “It has become very difficult‚ if not totally impossible‚ to separate the truth from wanton fiction. Eskom is the biggest victim of unyielding innuendo and naked lies.”