Eskom welcomes payment of R902m and apology from McKinsey

Power utility Eskom has welcomed the payment of R902-million from McKinsey and the company’s apology to all South Africans for its role in state capture.

“I am very sorry personally and on behalf of McKinsey & Company for the fact that we have had anything to do with any of the issues surrounding state capture‚” said Kevin Sneader‚ global managing partner of McKinsey & Company‚ in a speech delivered at the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS).

According to a written copy of the speech‚ he said the company owed it to its clients and South Africans to confront its mistakes and “hold ourselves accountable.”

On Monday‚ Business Day reported that McKinsey had undertaken to pay back R902-million of the R1.6-billion in business that Eskom had awarded it in 2016‚ but would keep millions in interest it earned on the fee.

“The Eskom board and management welcome this milestone of recovering funds from McKinsey and commit to continue to deal decisively with improper and irregular contracts. To this end‚ Trillian‚ which was not party to the settlement‚ will be pursued for the recovery of the remainder of the payments through the legal review process together with the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions (NDPP)‚” Eskom said in a statement.

Eskom chief executive Phakamani Hadebe confirmed that the power utility had received a payment of R902 million from McKinsey.

“This payment goes a long way towards our quest to address the issues of funds lost and regaining the trust of our people. We commit ourselves to root out financial mismanagement and malfeasance and we will continue to work with the six regulatory bodies and law enforcement agencies in addressing corruption‚ which are the National Treasury‚ Special Investigative Unit (SIU)‚ SAPS‚ Hawks‚ NDPP and the Zondo Commission.”