Despite earlier saying they did not know each other, it has now emerged that acting Eskom chief executive, Matshela Koko, and his step-daughter's business partner called each other over 50 times around the time that a multi-million rand contract was being awarded to the company.
A Sunday Times expose has revealed that Koko knew his step-daughter Koketso Choma's business partner, Pragasen Pather, despite earlier denying this. Choma and Pather are co-directors of Impulse International, which was awarded contracts to the value of R1.8 billion with Eskom.
The paper reported that telephone records show 52 calls between Koko and Pather between April and November 2016. The calls are apparently part of an investigation into the alleged conflict of interest.
The Sunday Times also revealed how Koko, 26, became a director at Impulse in April last year, just before Impulse cashed in on the Eskom contracts. She reportedly lives with Koko, although he claimed he did not know she worked at Impulse.
While Pather and Koko first said they did not know each other, they changed their tune when asked by the Sunday Times this week.
Pather reportedly said Koko had called him for help with load shedding. Koko said the calls were not unusual, saying he spoke to suppliers regularly.