Steun vir fluitjieblaser oor beweerde onreëlmatige Eskom-dieselkontrakte

AfriForum se privaatvervolgingseenheid sê hy ondersteun ’n fluitjieblaser wat ernstige bewerings van moontlike korrupsie en swak bestuur in Eskom se dieselverkryging- en bergingskontrakte maak.

Barry Bateman, woordvoerder vir die eenheid, sê adv. Gerrie Nel het bevestig dat AfriForum deur die fluitjieblaser genader is met inligting wat volgens hom op ’n forensiese verslag gebaseer is en wat moontlike ernstige onreëlmatighede in multimiljoenrand-kontrakte uitwys. Die organisasie sê hy gaan saam met die fluitjieblaser werk om die bewerings verder te ondersoek en waar nodig stappe vir moontlike vervolging te oorweeg.

Die bewerings hou verband met vyf maatskappye wat by Eskom se dieselverskaffing en -berging betrokke is, naamlik Astron Energy, Lanele Group, African Shipping and Forwarding, Nutinox en Severino Industries. Daar is ook verwysings na moontlike probleme met tenderprosesse, vooruitbetalings en kontrakreëlings wat Eskom finansieel kon benadeel. Nutinox het onlangs opslae gemaak nadat die Johannesburgse Hooggeregshof ’n tender van R263 miljoen vir watertenkers ongeldig verklaar het, terwyl bewerings ook bestaan oor moontlike verbintenisse tussen sy direkteure en Paul Mashatile, die adjunkpresident. Lanele Group is intussen in ’n regsgeding met Transnet gewikkel oor bewerings van korrupsie en geldwassery in verband met ’n brandstofbergingsprojek.

AfriForum sê die fluitjieblaser het anonimiteit versoek uit vrees vir moontlike vergelding, maar beklemtoon dat alle bewerings deeglik ondersoek moet word en aan die lig gebring moet word.

In ’n skrywe aan Eskom sê adv. Nel dat die fluitjieblaser beweer dat die forensiese verslag vir regsmening verwys is. Hy sê vrae oor deursigtigheid ontstaan as staatsentiteite onafhanklike forensiese verslae laat opstel, maar dit daarna vir regsadvies stuur wanneer die bevindinge ongemaklik vir invloedryke individue is.

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ESKOM DIESEL SUPPLY CONTRACTS; POSSIBLE CORRUPTION AND GOVERNANCE FAILURES

1. Advocates Nel and Vorster have been legally briefed by a whistleblower (identity withheld) with evidence of gross governance failures and corruption in the awarding and management of diesel procurement and storage contracts by Eskom.
2. Our brief is to ensure that those guilty of criminal conduct face consequences, and in the absence thereof, to consider private prosecution if Eskom’s wilful blindness towards corruption, including corruption allegedly committed by those doing business with the power utility, continues unabated. We have been instructed that several Eskom suppliers may be shielded from prosecution due to their clear political connections.
3. Our client is understandably reluctant to publicly expose those individuals guilty of criminal conduct, as doing so may cause life-threatening danger and prejudice career and business opportunities.
4. However, we do not share this “fear” and will publicly expose those who make themselves guilty of criminal conduct, conduct that also increases the tax burden on taxpayers.
5. The crux of this letter is to avoid the customary closing of ranks and the irrational secrecy surrounding investigation reports.
6. We must accept that the costs incurred to justify the enormity of funding forensic investigations were never incurred without the sound concern that indications of irregularity had become known.
7. We are confidently briefed that Itsamaya Holdings (Itsamaya) was appointed to conduct a full forensic audit of the fuel (diesel) procurement and storage contracts, and that it has presented a finalised report to the Office of the Head of Forensics. We implore Eskom merely to do its duty and disclose the report to interested parties, law enforcement agencies, and the public.
8. In amplification of this, we are reminded by the legal requirement under Section 34 of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (PRECCA) 12 of 2004, which mandates that persons in positions of authority report corrupt transactions, theft, fraud, extortion, or forgery involving R100,000 or more to the SAPS.
9. We are aware that the investigators, inter alia, consulted Eskom’s diesel suppliers. Based on our understanding of the contracting process and the governance framework applicable to these contracts, these suppliers may well themselves be implicated suspects. We understand that consultations were held with representatives of Astron Energy, Lanele Group, African Shipping and Forwarding, Nutinox, and Severino Industries.
10. We accept that Itsamaya made certain recommendations, and that our client, in particular, and taxpayers generally, are entitled to know whether those recommendations will be implemented.
11. We have become accustomed to the tendency of government and state entities to appoint and fund independent forensic investigators to produce reports, only to appoint lawyers then to set those reports aside when their findings are “inconvenient” to powerful individuals. In this instance, we are informed that the completed report, which focused on fuel procurement and may have made adverse findings, was referred to Centurion Legal Group. If true, such conduct undoubtedly amounts to wasteful expenditure, particularly where public funds are used to challenge a report commissioned by Eskom itself.
12. Although we have not had access to the report and recommendations, we are aware that information was shared about:
    12.1. relaxed bid qualification criteria, which include the irrational acceptance of financial
    statements signed off by a company director and not the required sign-off by an
    independent auditor.
    12.2. prepayments to certain suppliers. These amount to billions of rand and at least
    constitute a benefit that excludes the need to fundraise from financial institutions.
    12.3. acceptance of unfavourable and even irrational rebate arrangements by Eskom.
    This may benefit suppliers by at least R1 per litre, which, on bulk supply, adds up
    to millions in profits for them and a loss for Eskom.
    12.4. relaxation of the storage capacity requirement. Eskom may have provided certain
    suppliers with storage facilities while simultaneously being billed by those suppliers
    for the storage.
    12.5. advance orders to suppliers, spanning a whole year.
13. It is our understanding that a comprehensive report compiled by Itsamaya dealing with the storage irregularities will be presented to Eskom soon.
14. We are tentative, but our inference is that the Board and/or the Office of the Minister of Electricity and/or the Minister of Finance have not been provided with a copy of the report. It is in our client’s and the public’s interest to know whether the relevant Ministers and their Departments have taken, or intend to take, steps to deal with the recommendations of the forensic investigation.
15. It is worth mentioning that, in his weekly letter from the desk of the President published in September last year, President Cyril Ramaphosa discussed the adoption of a National Anti-Corruption Strategy. The President specifically referred to several arrests related to corruption at Eskom, noting that “while allegations of corruption within these important institutions are deeply disturbing, it is encouraging that they have been detected and that criminal action is being taken.”
16. Ostensibly, we must, for now, find solace in the understanding that this action is not only applicable to those implicated persons who are deemed less equal to other implicated persons.
17. As discussed above, it is our understanding that allegations of criminal conduct in relation to the supply and storage of diesel have been detected. Reiterating our paragraph 8 supra, the question now is how long it will take Eskom management to take the required “criminal action”?
18. Also considering the recent national focus on the scourge of corruption, it would be remiss of us not to mention the case against SAPS National Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, who has been charged in terms of the Public Finance Management Act for failing to take “effective and appropriate steps to prevent unauthorised, irregular and fruitless and wasteful expenditure and losses resulting from criminal conduct”. It was Masemola’s four-month delay in acting on a report that placed him in the sights of law enforcement.
19. We accept that Eskom’s Head of Forensics and the other accounting officers at the power utility who are in possession of Itsamaya’s report will not make a similar inexcusable misjudgement.
20. We reiterate our brief and request confirmation and status of the report presented to Eskom by Itsamaya Holdings.
21. We maintain our clients’ constitutional right and Eskom’s obligation to conduct business through transparency and accountability. We intend to consider the contents of the report, together with the information at our disposal, and to approach law enforcement to ensure that those guilty of criminal conduct face consequences.
    Yours faithfully
    ADV. GERRIE C NEL