Matshela Koko ordered Eskom to accept dodgy coal from Gupta mine, inquiry hears
The former acting Eskom boss’s ‘hidden hand’ was behind Majuba power station’s decision to accept substandard coal
Former acting Eskom boss Matshela Koko allegedly used his influence to lobby the utility’s Majuba power station to accept substandard coal from the Gupta’s Brakfontein mine. Koko’s alleged “hidden hand” was raised in testimony by Eskom coal supply unit manager Gert Opperman at the state capture inquiry on Monday. Opperman‚ who managed Eskom’s coal supply contract with the Brakfontein mine, owned by the Gupta family’s Tegeta Exploration and Resources, told the commission that after he rejected a consignment of coal in 2015‚ Koko called him directly and asked him to reverse his decision. Opperman said that on September 7 2015 he received an e-mail from mine general manager Satish Mudaliar which contained a report from the SA Bureau of Standards on the results of a coal stockpile analysis. Copied in the e-mail was Tegeta executive Jacques Roux. “I was engaged by Roux‚ who was also copied on that e-mail from Mudaliar‚ to dispatch the stockpile to Majuba. What made it out of the ordinary...
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