Former Eskom boss Matshela Koko takes Zondo report’s findings against him to court

22 December 2022 - 18:52
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Former Eskom CEO Matshela Koko wants the high court to set some of the findings the state capture inquiry made against him aside.
Former Eskom CEO Matshela Koko wants the high court to set some of the findings the state capture inquiry made against him aside.
Image: Veli Nhlapo

Former Eskom acting CEO Matshela Koko is pulling all the stops to overturn the adverse findings in the state capture commission report. 

Koko launched an application in the Johannesburg high court this week to have certain findings against him contained in the Zondo report reviewed and set aside.

In his affidavit, Koko said the commission, chaired by chief justice Raymond Zondo, made adverse findings against him which were not based on evidence. The findings that got Koko hot under the collar were that he abused his position to benefit the Guptas. 

“The commission concluded that Eskom executives and I used our position of authority and power within Eskom to benefit the Gupta enterprise. That Brian Molefe, Anoj Sing, and I have benefited from the Guptas and Mr Salim Essa in various forms that may have constituted the criminal offence of corruption,” the affidavit reads. 

In the lengthy affidavit, Koko said he appeared before the commission to give oral evidence nine times and handed in seven affidavits. But Koko said the commission ignored the evidence he provided when it made its findings.  

Koko said the commission cannot ignore the evidence contained in his affidavits.

“Regrettably, the commission has done that. In so doing, the commission has made findings, remarks and conclusions in the state capture report that are not rationally connected to the evidence before the commission.

“The court is requested to review and set aside such impugned findings, remarks and conclusions from the state capture report.”

Koko said the commission failed to consider “relevant evidence and interrogate critical persons” allegedly involved in “malfeasance at Eskom”. 

“Interrogating these persons would have weakened the commission’s narrative against me,” the affidavit reads. 

He said the commission accepted evidence of certain witnesses, implicating him, as common cause. 

“A reasonable commission would have probed this evidence to test its veracity to ensure the rules of law and natural justice were observed,” the affidavit reads.

He said the approach adopted by the commission lacked rigour, particularly where key witnesses testified in support of the version provided by the commission’s legal team and its investigators.

“The commission failed to undertake a proper inquiry as required by the judicial commission, acting reasonably within its terms and mandate. My submission is that the commission failed to exercise its investigative powers in a manner required by law.”

Koko also challenged the commission’s conclusion that he benefited from the Guptas or from Essa.

He said it was not “rationally connected to the evidence before the commission” and should be reviewed and set aside.

A reasonable commission would have probed this evidence to test its veracity to ensure the rules of law and natural justice were observed
Former Eskom acting CEO Matshela Koko

Koko said the benefit the commission referred to was a trip his family took to Bali, Indonesia, from December 23 2015 to January 5 2016. Koko said he, his wife and son also travelled to Dubai before returning to SA which sparked speculation that Guptas financed the trip.

“In 2017, the media alleged that I had been in Dubai in December 2015 and the Guptas paid for it,” the affidavit reads.

Koko said he asked the hotel that his family had booked in Dubai for the invoice for their stay. 

“Notwithstanding the evidence before the commission that it is not disputed, that my wife paid for the travel and that I made a direct payment for the accommodation at the Oberoi Hotel, the commission concluded that I benefited from the Guptas and/or Mr Salim Essa. This conclusion is irrational and unreasonable. It should be set aside.

“The commission was not following the evidence. It was on a witch hunt for Koko.”

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