Parliament hears of former CEO Matjila’s dubious procurements at Eskom
A former Eskom executive says Matjila implemented a R43m, three-year contract with Gupta-owned paper the New Age, despite a director refusing to co-sign it
Dubious procurement decisions made by former interim Eskom CEO Collin Matjila were highlighted in Parliament on Tuesday. Matjila headed up Eskom from April to October 2014 and within a month of taking office proposed a sponsorship of the monthly business breakfasts run by Gupta-owned the New Age newspaper at a cost of R1.2m per event. Leaked e-mails suggested that Matjila’s appointment was vetted by the Guptas. Former Eskom group executive for enterprise development Erica Johnson, who left Eskom in October 2014, told the state-capture inquiry conducted by Parliament's public enterprises committee that Matjila went ahead with implementing the R43m, three-year contract with the New Age despite the financial director refusing to co-sign it and despite it not having two signatories, as required. The expenditure was irregular because Matjila signed it beyond his delegation of authority. Matjila also took the unprecedented step of removing the standard exit clause from the contract, Johns...
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