THE police and two or three forensic teams are investigating “sophisticated” and “professional” fraud related to welding work done on boilers at Eskom’s Medupi coal-fired power station by a subcontractor of Hitachi Power Africa, MPs were told on Wednesday.Defects identified in the welding work have added to the delays in the R105bn project meeting its completion deadline.Acting Eskom group executive for capital projects Dan Marokane told members of the National Council of Provinces’ select committee on labour and public enterprises that there had been some “very serious fraudulent activities” with commercial interests at their heart.These were so sophisticated that the fraud had escaped the detection of professional quality assurance entities. The national power utility has since had to increase its inspection capabilities.The fraud involved the subcontractor manufacturing high-pressure equipment according to incorrect weld procedures. Had they not been remedies, they would have jeo...
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