Eskom head of generation Matshela Koko strongly denied in Parliament on Wednesday that he was part of an alleged strategy to use the utility’s resources to build up Gupta-owned mine company Tegeta Exploration and Resources as a significant player in the coal market.
Koko was the second senior executive in as many days after former chief financial officer Anoj Singh to protest his innocence of any involvement in the state capture of the utility before the parliamentary committee.
Koko testified about the purchase of Optimum Coal Mine by the Gupta-owned Tegeta Exploration and Resources from Glencore, the R659m prepayment that Eskom paid to Tegeta for coal supplies and corporate governance at the company.
He criticised what he said were “the many falsehoods and misleading reports published about me, that are, on my reading, part of a frenzied campaign calculated to break Eskom and to discredit the government.
“I have been caught in the crossfire and, arising from the simple magnitude of the campaign, have been unable to defend myself against it. It has all been very, very hurtful.”
Koko claimed that it was his attempts to root out corruption at the Medupi and Kusile projects that led to allegations of wrongdoing on his part.
He described the background to the purchase by Tegeta of Optimum in December 2015, emphasising that this was in the best interests of Eskom as it secured coal supplies for the Hendrina power station. He said Optimum’s business rescue practitioners had introduced Gupta-owned Oakbay to Eskom as a potential buyer of Optimum via its subsidiary Tegeta.
“The narrative that has been spun by the media and others is that Optimum was driven into business rescue by Eskom with the intention to enable Tegeta to acquire Optimum Coal Holdings assets, and that when Tegeta by April 2015 fell short in putting up the money, Eskom made a prepayment to Tegeta to enable it to make payment,” said Koko.
“Eskom then, moreover, in 2017 knocked down its penalty claim from R2.18bn to less than R600m further to assist Tegeta, all as part of an overall strategy to establish Tegeta as a substantial player in the coal mining sector. I deny that any such overall strategy ever existed.” He noted it was a suggestion of the Department of Mineral Resources, under minister Mosebenzi Zwane that Eskom make a substantial prepayment to the buyers of the OCH mines for future coal supply.
“My belief at the time was that if that was what was going to be required to save the situation, that was what had to be done, taking into account that prepayments for coal to be supplied in the future (albeit not to the extent the department suggested) was not out of the ordinary in Eskom’s operations.”
Koko rejected as false the testimony of two senior Eskom executives that he had called them to a meeting in March 2015 at which Gupta associate Salim Essa was present in order to discuss the pending suspension of four Eskom executives.
Suspended head of compliance and legal Suzanne Daniels and suspended group executive in the CEO office Abram Masango have both claimed that Koko had called them to a meeting at Melrose Arch, Johannesburg — at which Essa was present — on the eve of the suspensions.
Koko has claimed that he was suspended because he refused to do Tsotsi’s bidding to act irregularly. He admitted that he had called Daniels to a meeting at Melrose Arch to discuss his pending suspension, but denied that Essa was present. He also denied that he had called Masango to such a meeting.
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