Corruption – Eskom – Parliament

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Eskom se skuldbrug kom al ‘n lang pad aan en dit was al meer as een keer in Parlement bespreek met hoeveel komitees wat net niks bereik het nie.   Eskom se korrupsie en kapings veroorsaak heelwat ontwrigting in Suid-Afrika.    Korrupsie is die grootste oorsaak van ons rommelstatus en dit word nie deur parlementslede aangespreek of verder geneem nie.  Nie eers regters of kommissies neem dit verder nie.   Want, wat is aan al die korrupsie gedoen?   

Study on moving Parliament 'a waste of money' - Voice of the Cape

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Die brug word net al hoe hoër gebou en die skuld word net al meer vir die belastingbetaler om te bou.   Daar was Portfolio komitee vergaderings in die parlement vir etlike jare.  Wat help sulke komitees en kommissies as niks bereik word en ons as belastingbetalers moet opdok en vir hierdie komitees en kommissies betaal – dis uitbuiting en sabotasie teenoor ons burgers in die land en die land se vooruitgang self.   Hierdie is nie die eerste en enigste vergadering van korrupsie in parlement nie.   Daar is ander skandale ook.

Hier is ‘n paar skakels tot betrokke dokumentasie rakende korrupsie en Eskom.


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FINAL REPORT
Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises
Final Report on the Eskom Inquiry
https://www.gsb.uct.ac.za/files/Eskom_Inquiry_Final_Report_Nov2018.pdf

VARIOUS PRESS RELEASES AND HANSARDS OF PARLIAMENT


Parliament: State Capture Inquiries
https://pmg.org.za/page/state%20capture

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In June 2017, Parliament directed 4 committees to investigate state capture

https://www.parliament.gov.za/press-releases/parliamentary-investigation-alleged-state-capture-emails

Below are the proceedings as they took place in Parliament

 

Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises

 

Porfolio Committee on Home Affairs

∙Visa Facilitation Service (VFS) contract; Gupta family naturalisation inquiry, with Deputy Minister 12 March 2019

 

Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources

 

Portfolio Committee on Transport


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Parliament, Tuesday, 7 November 2017 – The Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises will tomorrow (8 November) continue its inquiry on Eskom into the mismanagement of state funds in state-owned enterprises.

https://www.parliament.gov.za/press-releases/former-executives-eskom-appear-committee


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The Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises held a fact-finding mission that preceded its full scale inquiry into Eskom’s financial mismanagement and allegations of corruption. Three organisations, the South African Council of Churches (SACC), Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) and the Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI), presented their findings on the level of corruption at Eskom and state-owned entities (SOEs) in general.

The Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises received briefings on Tuesday as part of its preparations for the inquiry into the affairs of the power utility, Eskom, at Parliament from the South African Council of Churches, among other organisations, on their findings of their respective investigations into allegations of state capture.

The Committee is one of the Committees of Parliament that were authorised by the House Chairperson in the National Assembly for Committees, Oversight and ICT, Mr Cedric Frolick, to probe accusations of state capture linked to alleged emails involving a number of Cabinet Ministers in June 2017.

In her opening remarks, the Acting Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises, Ms Zukiswa Rantho, stated that the Eskom inquiry is quite extensive than was previously expected. “Looking at the document before us, we have seen this inquiry is not a straightforward process. As such, it is important to engage with expects who have done investigations on state capture to assess its extent. That is why we have these three organisations that will present their findings to us today.

“Looking at the extensiveness and sensitivity of issues involved here, we have requested for the assistance of more researchers and legal personnel to prepare for this inquiry. And I must state that the inquiry won’t start on 1 August as previously proposed,” she said.

Briefing the Committee on the extent of corruption in the public sector, the General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches, Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana,  took a swipe at those continue to ask why the SACC has the temerity to involve itself in political issues. “We should make it clear that those who make such a call are genuinely disingenuous or ignorant of the Christian faith. The Preamble to our Constitution ends with the phrase: “May God Protect Our People. As the Council of Churches, we rise to protect this constitutional principle and the people of South Africa.”

The confinement of the Church to religious matters was the chorus of the apartheid regime. But we refuted it and we unapologetically supported the liberation struggle, he said. “We never dreamt that there will come a time, in a democracy, when political leaders use the apartheid chorus against the Church,” he also said.  

The findings of the SACC contained in its report titled: “The Unburdening and the Betrayal of the Promise” relied on former public servants and ordinary people who have experienced or know those who perpetuate the acts of corruption in the public sector, said the Bishop. 

Through it, he stated, we have established that the corruption which runs deep in our government departments and entities perpetuated by those charged with the task of running them has weakened corporate governance in these entities through the weeding out of skilled personnel, the manipulation of regulations and shaking of our currency’s sovereignty and the securing of intelligence apparatus to benefit their corrupt intents that have eroded our public ethics. Eskom is one of the lucrative cash cows for these acts because of its tantalising procurements deals, he said.

Presenting its report titled: “No Room to Hide”, Outa’s Portfolio Director of Energy, Mr Ted Blom, said: “Not long ago Eskom was ranked among the top five utilities in the world. But how the cost and status of Eskom has dwindled can be discerned from its financial statements. Eskom never mentioned that its irregular financial activities amounted to R3bn. Its audit firm Sizwe Ntsaluba has raised concern about the R3bn that has no source documents for payments.

“Eskom uses an advanced tracking system, which could have tracked that. The fact that it has not attests to the fact that maybe there is an old cheque book to ensure payment can be made without proper procurement procedures. If R3bn can go missing, that on its own warrants a serious inquiry.

“Besides that, from 2005 to 2010 Eskom claimed that it needed R93bn for its capital expenditure. This number included Medupi and Kusile. At first Medupi was estimated at R32bn. I saw later that the Eskom board has approved Medupi’s capital expenditure of R91bn. Where did the additional R60bn come from? I need to mention that I am privy to this because I was a consultant at Eskom, charged with the task of resuscitating the coal procurement plan, as such it was easy to compile this document,” he said.

Presenting its report titled: “Betrayal of the Promise: How South Africa is Being Stolen”, the State Capacity Research Institute’s representative, Prof Ivor Chipkin, stated that their observation of this phenomenon emanated from their collation of court documents and newspaper articles to try to bring new concepts to make sense of the current situation.

“As such, we found that underpinning this criminality and illegality is the political project that prevailed after Polokwane. Part of this revolved around the massive economic exclusion caused by the Growth, Employment and Redistribution (Gear) policy. There was a search for inclusive growth to undo the historical fundamentals of the South African economy. This was underpinned by public procurement for economic transformation.”

“The story of Eskom is not only a story of criminality, but a story of a political conviction that our Constitution is an obstacle to change and economic transformation. Subsequent to that, there was a turn away from the Constitution as it was perceived to be an obstacle to change. This created a growing illegality in the way state enterprises are currently behaving. This went further to weaken the Intelligence and the Justice cluster’s investigative capacity. This led to a shadow state comprised of a kitchen Cabinet,” said Prof Chipkin.

“It would be useful to have the economic impact of this matter so that we have a greater picture of the impact of financial maladministration at Eskom,” said Mr Mondli Gungubele.

Mr Blom responded that the negative impact of the Eskom rot is far-reaching. “The stealing of 3% to 5% of growth at Eskom a year has led to the loss of millions of jobs and has led to excessive borrowing and hike in tariffs.”  

“I thank you for the strong stance you have taken,” said Mr Steve Swart in praise of the South African Council of Churches’ initiative. “This is process of accountability and justice. I commit myself to this process. It is key for us to hold people accountable. You are a key part of this process. We need that information and encourage these people to come forward and lay charges.”

Bishop Mpumlwana responded that those who confided in them about wrongdoing in public service have asked them not to, at any stage, reveal their identities for fear of reprisals. 

“As much as we cannot forget the past, but we cannot blame the legacy of the past when we fail the people of this country in favour of our own personal interests,” said Dr Zukile Luyenge.

“At the centre of the rot is a political project and power elite which emerged after the Polokwane moment as you have stated Prof, but how then do you explain the Chancellor House’s involvement at Eskom, which is involved in what appears to be a corrupt contract with Hitachi? To me, Chancellor House is one entity that seems not to be included in your investigation?” asked a member of the Committee, Mr David Maynier.

The fact that we are currently involved in this process shows that we have a vibrant democracy. And it is the confirmation that we have a Parliament embedded in the Constitution and the more Parliament conducts itself in this manner, the more it will get credibility in the public’s eye,” said Mr Pravin Gordhan, another member of the Committee.

But a pertinent question persists: “What do we need to ensure that we can guide South Africa to ensure our ethics are not declining. And we need to ask ourselves: have we reached the point of impunity?”  

The Secretary of the South African Council of Churches, Bishop Mpumlwana, responded that “looking at the depth of the rot in the public service we feared that perhaps we have reached a point of no return. But this process may perhaps be what is needed to restore public confidence in the work of Parliament”.

“There are also agencies such as accounting agencies and multinational companies that are involved in Eskom’s rot,” said Mr Floyd Shivambu. “But also there are political protagonists involved at Eskom. The President is at the centre of this looting. The criminal justice system has also been compromised. There is nothing that is done by these prosecutorial agencies to pursue these cases. But of great concern is that Eskom’s personnel who are accused of maladministration and corruption are still in office. These people are still in the system. The ministry must be appraised with this recommendation. And there has to be a decision on that,” he said.

By Abel Mputing

25 July 2017

https://www.parliament.gov.za/news/we-cannot-blame-legacy-past-when-we-fail-our-people-dr-zukile-luyenge

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ALL ENTITIES – CORRUPTION

The performance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) came under the spotlight in Parliament, today (Thursday), during the debate of the Department of Public Enterprises Budget Vote.

A number of Members of Parliament (MPs) blamed the “corruption and under-performance” of most entities under the department on weak accountability and lack of clear objectives.

United Democratic Movement MP, Mr Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, said most SOEs have over the years experienced failures due to weak accountability, over-bureaucratisation and unclear objectives.

“It is common knowledge that in South Africa SOEs absorb a substantial amount of resources and actually impose a heavy burden on the fiscus. For proof, one has to look no further than Eskom and the South African Airways (SAA), to mention but a few. These challenges occur despite government initiating a comprehensive review of state-owned enterprises in 2012.

Minister Lynne Brown also came under fire for allowing the controversial return of Eskom’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Brian Molefe, after he resigned last year following his reported implication in the report of the Public Protector on state capture.

Ms Deidre Carter of the Congress of the People said SOEs were central to advancing national objectives through providing economic and social infrastructure. She added that they play a vital role in terms of the direct services they provide.

Their importance is further compounded by the fact that they tend to be concentrated in strategic sectors such as air and rail transport, energy and water supply.

“The unfortunate reality is that many of our SOEs are characterised by major corporate governance failures including weak accountability, chronic under-performance with poor return on government investments and continuous reliance on government support, whether in the form of explicit government guarantees, subsidies and bailouts,” she said.

The Democratic Alliance’s Natasha Mazzone said the country’s SOEs were “not just in a state of chaos, they are in fact in a state of capture”.

“Every single morning, another scandal breaks in the media. The return of (Mr) Brian Molefe will see the Gupta hand return to the power utility, and most likely to the forthcoming nuclear procurement deal. This is something which South Africa cannot accept.

“South Africa is not for sale, our SOEs cannot be bought by the Gupta family with the help of Number 1. The time is now to put a stop to this corruption and capture,” said Ms Mazzone.

The Acting Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises, Ms Zukiswa Rantho, said SOEs are very crucial in driving the state strategic objectives of creating jobs and enhancing equity and ultimately transformation.

“The Nationa Development Plan Vision 2030 underlines the key aspects in pursuit of a developmental state, and therefore it is of paramount importance that their state of governance is sound.

Mr Thembinkosi Rawula of the Economic Freedom Fighters questioned the existence of the Department of Public Enterprises and called for its dissolution.

“We call for the dissolution of the Department of Public Enterprises and entities that fall under the department must be moved to other departments, the South African Airways and Transnet must go to the Department of Transport, Eskom must go to the Department of Energy and all other entities to the respective line function departments,” he said.

The Minister defended her department and the performance of its entities, saying they were among the “key economic levers available to the state to give effect to its transformative developmental agenda”.

She said while many private companies have been forced into their shells over the past nearly-10 years of economic sluggishness, state-owned companies have undertaken massive infrastructure and job-creating projects.

“Eskom’s power stations, for example, still receive about 90% of their coal from white-owned companies, some of which have built giant business empires on the back of the guaranteed cash flow these contracts have provided.

“A few weeks ago, at the World Economic Forum on Africa, Transnet revealed a taste of the opportunities that exist on the continent when they invited representatives of companies they have been dealing with in eight countries to join them for a tour of the Port of Durban. Transnet is currently negotiating to develop port, rail and pipeline infrastructure in Senegal, Liberia, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya.

Contrary to the popular narrative being sown (or sowed) out there, the overwhelming majority of goods and services supplied to Eskom, Transnet and Denel, our Big Three, are not supplied by black-owned or empowered companies.

There is enormous scope to transform the profile of suppliers, bring in new companies, and convince owners of existing suppliers to enter into profit-share arrangements with workers, among other measures.

“Our greatest short-term challenge is to confront and overcome the cloud of allegations and counter-allegations. It is clear that state-owned companies’ improvement in performance is non-negotiable and that structural reforms must be accelerated to improve efficiency and strengthen government’s role as a shareholder,” the Minister said.

By Sakhile Mokoena
25 May 2017

https://www.parliament.gov.za/news/state-owned-enterprises-come-under-spotlight-during-budget-vote-debate

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Parliament, Tuesday, 17 October 2017 – The Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises has begun its inquiry into state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The Committee was briefed by Prof Anton Eberhard from the University of Cape Town on the Eskom Inquiry Reference Book, which has been prepared for the inquiry. “The reference book sets out to provide an independent, accessible, concise and fact-based account of some, but not all, of the alleged instances of governance failure and capture at the largest state-owned companies,” said Prof Eberhard.

The Acting Chairperson of the Committee, Ms Zukiswa Rantho, said in her opening remarks that the inquiry will comprise three parts: the Eskom inquiry, the Transnet inquiry and the Denel inquiry. She said the inquiry formed part of Parliament’s oversight role and did not replace other legislative processes. Ms Rantho said no one during the inquiry should be seen as guilty of wrongdoing. In addition, she said anyone accused of wrongdoing during the investigation will be given an opportunity to give their version.

Prof Eberhard said the Committee will likely make findings concerning the manner in which the governance of the state-owned electricity company has been undermined and re-purposed to materially benefit a politically connected elite, while compromising national economic and social development.

Prof Eberhard indicated that the Committee will make recommendations when the Committee concludes its inquiry. Some of the suggested recommendations in the reference book consider prosecuting culpable individuals, reforming governance, and restructuring the country’s electricity so that corruption is less possible in future. “The inquiry has potential to illuminate both the past and the future,” said Prof Eberhard.

The Committee welcomed the presentation of the reference book and said it will assist Members of the Committee in its inquiry.

Ms Rantho said, “The Committee appreciates the overview provided by the reference booklet as this is a complex matter. The information presented raises serious allegations about state resources.”

Parliament has set up security measures to ensure the safety of witnesses for the duration of the inquiry.

The inquiry will continue tomorrow (Wednesday, 18 October) at 09:30 at the Old Assembly Chamber. The Committee will receive a briefing from OUTA and one important witness.

ISSUED BY PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE ACTING CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ENTERPRISES, MS ZUKISWA RANTHO  

https://www.parliament.gov.za/press-releases/committee-starts-inquiry-state-owned-enterprises


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Eskom capture

 

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26 gedagtes oor “Corruption – Eskom – Parliament”

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