Matona spills beans on Eskom rot to inquiry

Former Eskom group CEO Tshediso Matona described on Tuesday how the governance and ethical environment at the parastatal was deteriorating when he took over as CEO in late 2014.

There was also deep infighting within the board‚ led by then-chairman Zola Tsotsi‚ over procurement issues‚ to the extent that the board had become almost dysfunctional.

Matona‚ who was Eskom CEO from October 2014 to March 2015‚ presented evidence to the inquiry by Parliament's public enterprises committee into allegations of state capture of state owned enterprises.

He said at the time of his tenure‚ the moral and the ethical fabric of the company needed urgent attention. Several employees were on suspension‚ and the numbers were increasing.

Matona was suspended in March 2015 for reasons that he could not understand‚ but he surmised that his continuation as CEO did not fit in with the plans of the board. He said his suspension came as “a complete shock" to him. The decision was taken by a new board that had just taken office‚ before it had even taken the time to familiarise itself with the affairs of the company.

The new board was reportedly packed with Gupta-linked members. Matona was later replaced by Brian Molefe‚ who was accused in former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's State Of Capture report of having facilitated the awarding of contracts to Gupta-linked companies.

Matona‚ who was previously director-general of the departments of trade and industry and public enterprises‚ challenged his suspension both at the Labour Court and the Commission for Conciliation‚ Mediation and Arbitration‚ but eventually abandoned the case when it became apparent that the board was determined not to take him back.

"I chose to leave that sordid and sorry episode behind me and to continue with my life‚" Matona said‚ adding that his suspension had dealt a mortal blow to trust between himself and the Eskom board.

Matona also said that his suspension was a "misgovernance" event that triggered a downgrade of Eskom by credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s.

- BusinessLIVE