Eskom to receive final investigation report into corruption allegations against COO
Andre de Ruyter says they had already received a preliminary report of the investigation, while the executive has previously been cleared by a different investigation.
Eskom will receive the final report of an internal investigation into allegations of corruption and victimization against its chief operating officer (COO) Jan Oberholzer within a week.
Speaking to eNCA via Skype, the power utility’s chief executive, Andre de Ruyter, said they had already received a preliminary report of the investigation.
The Eskom board had launched the investigation in March after they received of letters from the civil society organization Corruption Watch and the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), in which both organizations articulated allegations of corruption and victimization against Oberholzer.
“Both organizations cite the same source, an Eskom employee who has since deposed to an affidavit to the commission of inquiry into state capture, as having raised the allegations. In the correspondence, the organizations implore the Eskom board to intervene and act to protect the whistle-blower.”
Eskom had previously dealt with matters concerning the COO, and after an investigation led by outside senior counsel, the investigation was closed following a thorough examination of the allegations, for which no substance was found.
De Ruyter also told eNCA that it would take a bit longer to fix the damage done to Eskom due to 10 years of corruption.
He said that since President Cyril Ramaphosa’s national lockdown announcement, the country had not experienced any load shedding.
“We think we will be able to emerge from this lockdown period with a fleet in which we have better reliability and predictability.
“Having said that, we still have a lot of work to do to catch up with 10 years of neglect that needs to be repaired,” said De Ruyter.
The power utility had announced on Thursday that they would carry out short-term maintenance for their generation infrastructure due to the lockdown.
“With the COVID-19 lockdown in full effect, Eskom has experienced a significant reduction in demand for electricity.
“Electricity usage has dropped between 7,500 MW and 9,000 MW since the lockdown came into effect last week. This has allowed Eskom to operate without the need to implement load shedding,” Eskom explained in a statement. They intended to double their maintenance efforts during the window of reduced demand.
In other news – Zodwa Wabantu denied a Kiss by her upset Ben 10, Vusi on his Birthday
Yesterday the 2nd of April, Mzansi dancer Zodwa Wabantu took to social media to wish her bae, Vusi Buthelezi a happy birthday accompanied by a very heart-melting and sweet message, and it clearly showed she has fallen so deeply in love with her man.
Due to the lockdown situation, they didn’t get to vibrantly celebrate the special day and she promised to make it up to him once the virus crisis is over. continue reading
Source: The Citizen
