Coal crisis mints profit for Tegeta
Gupta-owned coal supplier makes R4bn by bending the rules
While severe coal shortages at Eskom have raised the spectre of renewed load shedding, Gupta-owned coal supplier Tegeta - at the centre of the coal crisis - has made billions by short-changing the power utility. Business Times has established that over the past two years Tegeta's largest mine, Optimum, has made up to R4-billion from exporting coal - some of which would have gone to Eskom had the power utility enforced stringent contractual obligations. The mine sold 1.9 million tons of coal destined for Hendrina power station to Bermuda-based and Gupta-linked asset management firm Centaur Ventures for R2.3-billion between October 2016 and last November. Centaur is 50% owned by Akash Garg Jahajgarhi, the man who married the Guptas' niece, Vega, at the now infamous 2013 Sun City wedding. The company denies in court papers it is controlled by the Gupta family. Centaur is asking the High Court in Pretoria to recognise it as Optimum's biggest creditor, with a claim of R760-million. The m...
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