Eskom is working on an investigation into whistleblowers of an irregularly awarded R500 million security, which Eskom insiders say is an attempt to shift blame from executives who awarded the contract.
Allegations emerged that a R500 million emergency tender was irregularly awarded to Fidelity Services Group last year to protect power stations.
In July last year, Eskom’s head of security Karen Pillay – with support from then CEO Andre de Ruyter and COO Jan Oberholzer – gave the massive contract to Fidelity following a private investigation into corruption at Eskom.
The issue, however, is that no other companies were invited to submit bids, raising red flags over the procurement process.
There have also been concerns over a request from Pillay to then CFO and now acting CEO Calib Cassim to deviate from the company’s payment policy by fast-tracking invoices to Fidelity amounting to over R250 million.
This amount was paid between seven and 14 days, but Eskom’s payment policy states that a contract worth over R100 million or more will only be paid after 60 days.
Pillay argued that the financial burden on Fidelity to provide resources and equipment at short notice required Eskom to outlay large amounts of funds that were sourced from a short-term loan agreement.
Pillay was placed on precautionary suspension in June this year while the tender process is fully investigated. Oberholzer also resigned as director of operations after Cassim was pressured to remove him due to his involvement in the tender and his close relationship with the acting CEO.
However, as reported by City Press, Eskom is also launching a full-scale investigation to find the whistleblowers who revealed information about the security tender.
According to information with City Press, Eskom has looked for a forensic audit firm to:
“Conduct a forensic investigation into the allegations against the senior manager, which arose from a preliminary investigation performed by the general manager of security [Pillay], as well as issues and allegations that arose from recent newspaper articles.”
Eskom insiders said that the investigation into whistleblowers was simply a way for executives to deflect attention from the Special Investigating Unit’s (SIU’s) investigation into allegations of wrongdoing by them.
“This is a witch-hunt against the people responsible for exposing the Fidelity emergency security contract and the executives who gave undue preferential treatment to the company on a deal that was already under investigation because of the outrage it had caused,” one Eskom insider argued.
“The people who motivated, supported and authorised the deviations are the same ones who engineered the Fidelity contract. The executives who handled the Fidelity contract don’t want anyone knowing the details of how far they went to ensure that the company got preferential treatment. The investigation’s a cover-up,” another insider said.
Read: Joburg secures major private power deal to escape load shedding
