Former Eskom managers arrested in probe into alleged R745m Kusile power plant fraud

Two former Eskom executives have been arrested by the police's elite investigating unit, the Hawks, and the National Prosecuting Authority's investigating directorate.

The Hawks on Thursday confirmed that the two former Eskom managers, as well as two business directors and representatives of seven companies, have been charged in connection with a R745m corruption and fraud probe into the construction of the mega coal-fired Kusile power station near Emalahleni in Mpumalanga.

The arrests were carried out in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Gauteng.

The incident related to a June 2015 allegedly fraudulent contract which was submitted by the Kusile project management team to Eskom’s procurement committee. They had sought to negotiate and conclude the contract with one of the seven companies.

“The contract was approved in 2015 for R745m to build two Air Cooled Condensers (ACC) units at Kusile power station. It is alleged that from February 2015 to July 2017, the appointed companies, other related entities and individuals shared about R30m among themselves,” said Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi in a statement.

“Investigations began when suspicions were raised into the construction of two large projects at Medupi and Kusile power stations. This revealed that there was apparent gross manipulation of contractual agreements between contractors, Eskom employees and third parties at Kusile power station,” Mulaudzi added.

Those arrested are due to appear in the Johannesburg Regional Court on Thursday.

This is a developing story