State claims Lomas is a flight and suicide risk as it opposes his bail application

The state told the Johannesburg high court that former Eskom contractor Michael Harry Lomas was a suicide risk. 

The state made this submission as it opposed a bid by Lomas to be released on bail.

“This is informed by his failed bid to avoid extradition to South Africa from the UK, wherein he engaged the service of a private psychiatrist who testified that he was not fit for extradition, citing his possible suicidal state,” Investigating Directorate Against Corruption spokesperson Henry Mamothame said. 

The state said it further believed Lomas was a flight risk based on his suspicious travel out of the country through Namibia, back to the UK in 2018, while investigations against him and others had started in 2017.

Lomas had also failed to voluntarily hand himself over to the South African authorities after a warrant for his arrest was issued. He instead opted to fight his extradition to evade trial, the state said.

Lomas was extradited from the UK in September last year. His case was eventually transferred to the high court to be joined with that of 11 others charged with him. They are facing 41 counts of corruption linked to R1.4bn that was meant for the upgrade of Eskom’s Kusile power station in Mpumalanga between 2014 and 2017.    

The bail application was postponed until next Wednesday for further hearing.

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