Electricity and energy minister Kgosientso Ramokgopa has strongly rejected allegations of any wrongdoing in Eskom’s decision to give a R9.5bn energy tender to a company chaired by one of its former COOs, Jan Oberholzer.
Ramokgopa told MPs on Wednesday there was “no substantial evidence” to back up allegations of “conflict of interests” between Eskom and Oberholzer’s Mulilo Energy scoring a R9.5bn battery-storage tender, as part of the utility’s renewable energy programmes.
Ramokgopa was responding to oral questions from MPs in the National Assembly on Wednesday during the appearance of cabinet ministers in the economic cluster.
MK Party MP Sipho Mbatha, who had put the question to Ramokgopa, had made the allegation of a conflict of interest in the deal between Eskom and Mulilo Energy.
The business transaction has also been slammed by other parties such the EFF, the Black Business Council, and trade unions such the NUM.
But Ramokgopa stuck to his guns, telling lawmakers that no evidence of a conflict of interest or any form of wrongdoing had been found during Eskom’s due diligence on the Mulilo transaction.
“Mulilo did comply with the requirement of public disclosure. They made it known to the independent procurement office that its chairperson is a former COO of Eskom.
“And in that regard the IPP office then initiated a process where we sought legal advice from an independent assessor and a determination was made that there was no conflict [of] interest and therefore the process can unfold as determined, and that’s how that process then culminated in us issuing the preferred bidder status,” Ramokgopa explained.
If there’s any evidence by any members in this house or anybody watching at home, bring it to our attention.
— Electricity and energy minister Kgosientso Ramokgopa
But Mbatha was not moved by Ramokgopa explanations.
“Thank you, chairperson, we take this opportunity to reject any information that says there’s [no] complication of interest. The COO left Eskom, officially, in 2023 and the following year, the tender was advertised. Then he gets a R9.5bn tender. This is not magic, this a conflict of interest.
“He participated in planning years; he participated in strategic plans. It’s a conflict of interest. You should tell us what you are going to do, because it’s a conflict of interest,” said Mbatha in his follow-up.
In response, Ramokgopa pointed out that the controversial deal had been ventilated for four hours during a meeting of the electricity and energy portfolio committee on Wednesday, in which nobody produced any evidence of wrongdoing.
“We spent four hours in the portfolio committee and these allegations were not substantiated.
“The second thing, just to understand the configuration of the procurement process, [is that] Eskom is not involved in the procurement of new generation capacity. Eskom through the NTCSA (National Transmission Company of SA), is the buyer of this new generation capacity.
“The process is incubated at the DBSA and the design was deliberate, to ensure that buyer is not involved in the procurement process, to ensure that the executive authority is not involved in the procurement process as laid out.
“If there’s any evidence by any members in this house or anybody watching at home, bring it to our attention or alternatively, you can interdict the process, and it will be ventilated, and you can substantiate before the courts of law.
“So, it’s not sufficient just to label process discredited, without any substantial evidence. Thank you house chair.”
TimesLIVE
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