Moemish? Nope!— Eskom denies paying billionaire R4bn ‘by mistake’

09 February 2022 - 08:00
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Eskom denies claims that it paid R4bn to a billionaire mining magnate by 'mistake'.
Eskom denies claims that it paid R4bn to a billionaire mining magnate by 'mistake'.
Image: supplied

Eskom has denied claims that it paid R4bn to mining magnate billionaire Quinton van der Burgh “by mistake”. 

This comes after a viral social media post claimed that the embattled power utility “mistakenly” paid Van der Burgh billions and that the government couldn’t take action to recover the money or pursue a court case. 

The post was written in the wake of Walter Sisulu University student Sibongile Mani being found guilty of theft at the East London Regional Court for spending more than R800,000 after R14m was mistakenly paid into her account by the National Student Financial Aid .

“The second picture is of Eskom coal supplier Quinten (sic)  van der Burgh, who Eskom ‘mistakenly’ paid R4 billion and the government released a statement that they couldn’t take any action to recover this R4bn and would not pursue any arrest or court case against Quinten, the matter was closed just like that,” read an excerpt from the social media post. 

Eskom denied the claims made in the post, saying “there was never any R4bn paid ‘by mistake’ to anyone”. 

In 2020, Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter dismissed claims that the power utility mistakenly overpaid an unnamed contractor a total of R5bn and that it was failing to recover the funds in the alleged overpayment.

The claims were made during a joint presentation to parliament’s appropriations committee.

In responding to the claims, De Ruyter said Eskom had identified seven coal suppliers, which in its opinion, were charging too much for the coal they supplied. 

“We have commenced negotiations with these seven coal suppliers. And we are making good progress with these suppliers and in due course we will be able to update the committee on these matters. 

“We are involved in negotiations and we will, when we present our comprehensive feedback in due course, come back with a timeline as to when we will close these matters as you suggested,” said De Ruyter.

With regards to the alleged mistaken R5bn payment to a contractor, De Ruyter told the committee that Eskom had an obligation to recover monies that were paid incorrectly.  

“We are very aware that we have an obligation to recover monies that were paid incorrectly and unlawfully to various organisations, and we are working closely with Sars, the Special Investigating Unit, the Hawks, the JSE for those companies that are listed on the stock exchange, and the head of investigations at the office of the National Director of Public Prosecutions,” he said. 

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