Prosecutions:

• Former Eskom CEO arrested with members of his family and other former executives

Former acting Eskom CEO Matshela Koko at the Middelburg magistrate’s court on Thursday where he was charged with corruption and fraud linked to a Kusile power station contract. Koko appeared in the court in Mpumalanga with his wife Mosima, stepdaughter Koketso Choma and five others. The contract, valued at more than R2bn, was flagged by the state capture commission as one in a series of irregular contracts.

Former Eskom boss Matshela Koko was granted R300,000 bail by the Middelburg Magistrates Court on Thursday night, hours after being arrested on fraud and corruption charges linked to a dodgy Kusile power station contract.

He was arrested on Thursday morning with seven others.

The Kusile contract, valued at more than R2bn, was flagged by the state capture commission of inquiry as one in a series of irregular contracts that contributed to the hollowing out of the state-owned power utility under the watch of former president Jacob Zuma and the controversial Gupta family.

Koko’s arrest forms part of a number of flagship state capture arrests made by the National Prosecuting Authority, including that of another former Eskom CEO, Brian Molofe and former Transnet and Eskom CFO, Anoj Singh in August. It shows that prosecutions are beginning to happen, giving credence to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s clean-up campaign.

Koko is among eight people arrested on Thursday in Gauteng and Mpumalanga. Also taken into custody were his wife Mosima, stepdaughters Koketso Aren and Thato Choma, former SA Local Government Association CEO Thabo Mokwena, Kusile project director for Eskom Hlupheka Sithole, Koko’s friend Watson Seswai and

lawyer Johannes Coetzee.

Mosima, Aren, Coetzee and Choma were released on R70,000 bail each while Mokwena, Sithole and Seswai were released on R300,000 bail.

“The matter emanates from a long investigation that commenced in 2017 and [was] handed over to the Investigating Directorate. When we started in 2019 we also got some assistance from the SIU [Special Investigating Unit] so it is a multi-agency initiative that led to the result,” said Investigating Directorate spokesperson Sindisiwe Seboka.

The state capture report, released in April, recommended that Koko and Singh be charged

with corruption and that Eskom recover lost monies from its former executives, as they had run down the utility, carving out deals for themselves and their families and contributing to Eskom’s woes.

“In my view, Mr Koko, consistent with his decision to become a Gupta agent, was

feeding Mr Salim Essa with information to enable the Guptas to position themselves advantageously in relation to Eskom’s affairs in general and the takeover of Glencore’s coal interests in particular,” chief justice Raymond Zondo, who chaired the commission, said in the report.

Koko has consistently maintained his innocence in the matter, saying shortly after the release of the report that he was considering taking the report on judicial review.

Thursday’s arrests are connected to a multibillion-rand contract Eskom entered into with Swiss engineering company Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) in 2015 when Koko was an executive at the power utility.

The company was hired for the construction of the Kusile power station in Mpumalanga, which was initially scheduled to be completed in 2022, to relieve SA of its power woes. However, its construction has been riddled with various delays, some emanating from corruption.

According to a draft charge sheet which Business Day has seen, ABB was linked to a local company, Impulse International where Koko’s stepdaughter Choma was a shareholder. Impulse was then used as a vehicle to funnel funds from Eskom to Koko’s wife, Mosima.

The draft charge sheet is more than 92 pages long and outlines 25 counts of fraud and corruption and offences related to money laundering .

“In 2015-2017 several contracts were awarded of which four form part of this matter for Impulse International. They were for providing Eskom and Rotek Industries with SAP work packages, specialised engineers and managers to oversee the different interphase contractors amongst other functions. The state further alleges that a portion of these contracts was used to butter hands,” Seboka said.

In the court papers it is alleged that money laundering vehicles were set up by Coetzee to siphon money from Impulse International to benefit the Koko family.

The matter returns to court in March 2023.

IN 2015-2017 SEVERAL CONTRACTS WERE AWARDED. THE STATE ALLEGES A PORTION OF THE CONTRACTS WAS USED TO BUTTER HANDS