THE Treasury has blocked an attempt by Eskom to hand a Gupta company an R855m extension to a coal contract without an open tender.Previously, the same contract was loaded with a R586m extension that Eskom controversially paid up front. The contract is with Tegeta Exploration and Resources for the provision of coal from Optimum Coal Mine, which it acquired from Glencore earlier in 2016, to Arnot power station in Mpumalanga.Tegeta is majority-owned by the Guptas, their associate Salim Essa and Duduzane Zuma.Eskom’s failed attempt comes amid fierce blows between it and the Treasury over alleged favouritism towards the Guptas.Tegeta’s original contract to supply Arnot with coal was awarded at the end of 2015, valued at R235m. At the time, Tegeta was in the process of buying Optimum Coal from Glencore. In April, just days before Tegeta was required to make a large payment on the acquisition, Eskom extended the contract by the R586m paid up front.Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan had raised...
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