Senior Eskom Execs Cleared Of Wrongdoing

Matshela Koko and Prish Govender will return to work.
Mike Hutchings / Reuters

Two senior Eskom executives have been reinstated following disciplinary proceedings, eNCA reported.

In a letter by Eskom CEO Sean Maritz to the Eskom exco, seen by eNCA, the company has decided that Prish Govender will go back to his job as Eskom's head of group capital, while Matshela Koko will resume his duties as group executive: generation.

Govender was reportedly under investigation for his role in the McKinsey controversy, while Koko was accused to awarding contracts worth R1-billion to a company partly owned by his stepdaughter.

According to Business Report, the decision to reinstate Koko was taken in December. He was also cleared of allegations relating to his involvement in the awarding of a R650 million loan to the Gupta's Tegeta Resources, which was then used by the family to buy Optimum mine.

But Eskom denied that Koko had been reinstated at the time.

Koko's reinstatement is especially controversial because of how his disciplinary hearing unfolded.

Business Day reported that the prosecution closed the case against Koko early because witnesses declined to testify against him. Among those who refused to testify were human resources executive Elsie Pule; former group capital executive Abram Masango; acting group capital head Peter Sebola, and former project managers at the Kusile power station, Frans Sithole and France Hlakudi.

There were allegations of witness intimidation and the watering down of charges against Koko, and Masango reportedly said he would not "give credence to a collapsed hearing".

According to Eyewitness News (EWN), Govender was one of four executives suspended for his role in the awarding of a controversial contract to the Gupta-linked company Trillian. Trillian was reportedly paid about R500-million for little or no work done.

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