Eskom CEO Dan Marokane assures that the State-owned utility is applying the same effort to end years of governance and accountability failings, as it did to end loadshedding.

This came amid the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) briefing the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on investigations into Eskom, where it revealed that employees had swindled the utility out of over R1-billion by manipulating procurement processes.

In a statement on Friday, Eskom expressed its commitment to root out corruption and strengthen its governance framework, and said it was partnering with the SIU and other law enforcement agencies to hold those involved in corruption accountable, to recover financial losses, and strengthen governance processes. 

The SIU recommended that a system be developed to red flag transactions approved by high-risk officials on the payment system or to red flag payments made to high-risk suppliers and contractors.

The SIU urged Eskom to consider implementing contractual terms that allowed for access to personal information of an employee, warning that a thorough vetting of officials entering Eskom was not enough.

Eskom board chairperson Mteto Nyati committed to use public money efficiently through the strengthening of governance and management controls by appointing “the right people to the right roles”, in the utility’s attempt to foster an ethical and high-performance culture and consequence management.

Marokane said Eskom had in place a new, “strengthened executive team that has the appropriate skills and leadership” to ensure adherence to internal controls, risk management and the Public Finance Management Act.

A dedicated Project Management Office has also been created to analyse data-driven findings, oversee internal and external investigations, and clear the backlog of cases in coordination with law enforcement agencies.

Nyati pointed out that Eskom’s partnership with the SIU, and the various organs of State under the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure Energy Safety & Security Priority Committee, was crucial to ensure that all forms of criminality that impacted Eskom’s ability to effectively and efficiently deliver on its mandate, were dealt with decisively.

“As part of its drive to enhance governance and combat corruption, Eskom has restructured its forensic, security, and investigative functions under the newly established Group Investigations and Security division, which now reports directly to the Group Chief Executive,” he explained.

“A resourcing drive to adequately capacitate the finance, internal audit and forensics functions to address key skills lost over the years has now commenced,” he added.

The utility said it would continue providing support and the necessary information to ensure that all pending cases were resolved promptly.

“As investigations continue across Eskom and its related suppliers, we anticipate further corruption revelations and arrests. Eskom will continue to focus on implementing generation recovery, strengthening governance, and tackling crime and corruption while future-proofing the organisation to enable energy security, growth, and long-term sustainability to the benefit of South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa,” it explained.