Eskom has admitted that it lied to reporters in June when it said that an outside audit had found nothing wrong with its contract with Gupta-linked Trillian, Business Day reported on Tuesday.
In June, Eskom said a review of the contracts, valued at R1.6 billion, to the Gupta-linked financial advisory firm Trillian and global consultancy McKinsey, were above board.
But the review, by a management consultancy in New York, Oliver Wyman, had found the contracts to be problematic, Business Day reported. The company had also recommended a legal review of the contracts.
Two sources told Business Day that false information about the review was given to the former chief financial officer at Eskom, Anoj Singh. Singh then passed on the incorrect information to the media.
Oliver Wyman reportedly demanded that Eskom admit that it lied, in a letter it sent out last week.
Eskom's head of legal, Suzanne Daniels, reportedly confirmed this.
"We received a legal query from Oliver Wyman concerning a factually incorrect statement based on the firm's technical review undertaken on Eskom's behalf," she said.
"We have taken full responsibility for same, hence the correction. Oliver Wyman is fully justified to be aggrieved by this occurrence; we are in the process of remedying our relations with ... Oliver Wyman."