Eskom chair Jabu Mabuza to take the hot seat at state capture inquiry

Eskom board chairperson Jabu Mabuza will be the first witness to take the stand at the Zondo commission when it begins its investigation into state capture allegations at the power utility.

Evidence leader advocate Vincent Maleka said on Wednesday that Eskom would be the first state-owned enterprise to appear before the commission.

Maleka said Mabuza's testimony was expected to paint a picture of the state of Eskom when the new board took over, it's work of "cleaning up" and the current state of the power utility.

Mabuza chairs the new board, which was appointed in 2018.

The commission will also hear from an official from Glencore, which was allegedly pressured into selling its Optimum coal mine to Gupta-linked Tegeta.

The official is expected to outline how the company was pressured to sell through the issuing of section 59 notices and other operating pressures.

Maleka said the commission had also invited McKinsey to submit a statement. The company was paid millions for consulting work at Eskom, which was later questioned.

Standard Bank's former head of legal, Ian Sinton, is expected to outline how suspicious transactions were flagged and some accounts were closed because of unanswered questions.

A cyber expert is also expected to testify.