Eskom has released a statement confirming that its Chief Operations Officer Jan Oberholzer is being investigated for R139 billion fraud. It is reported that Oberholzer is a shareholder in a company that defrauded the power utility of R139 billion inflated contracts.
According to new reports, Oberholzer is a shareholder in JSE listed construction company Stefanutti Stocks. It is alleged that soon after he was appointed as COO of Eskom, Oberholzer held a string of meeting with different directors.
The meetings were held with Stefanutti managing director Russell Crawford and commercial director John Le Riche at a hotel at OR Tambo International Airport as well as at Kusile power station in Mpumalanga. Oberholzer is a former Stefanutti managing director.
Stefanutti Stocks is the subject of investigations by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the Hawks, while Oberholzer is being probed by the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture.
According to the report by Sunday Independant, backed by photos, Oberholzer had more than two meetings with Stefanutti Stocks directors, including one at his office at Megawatt Park in Johannesburg.
Corruption Watch which is an anti-corruption civil society organisation reportedly penned a letter to the board of Eskom on 11 March 2020 raising concerns about these allegations. The South African Federation of Trade Unions also wrote to Eskom board about the same matter on 12 and 18 March 2020.
“The Eskom board acknowledges receipt of correspondences from Corruption Watch, an anti-corruption civil society organisation, dated 11 March 2020, and from the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU), dated 12 and 18 March 2020,” read Eskom statement released on 19 March 2020.
Eskom CEO André de Ruyter, admitted in Parliament last week that he had hand-picked four companies to do work with the power utility.
It is also alleged that Oberholzer instructed Eskom's procurement staff to correct documents for Black and Veatch, another white-owned service provider.
Eskom's statement which was released today has upset many people on social platforms as they say it says nothing about Oberholzer's suspension. Many feel that it is business as usual and that he may alter or extend contracts if he remains in his position while being investigated.
This statement is nonsensical. The man must be suspended effective immediately or else He's going to interfere and frustrate the whole investigation.— Molefe (Ntabane) (@molefe_123) March 19, 2020
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