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SA parliament reveals details of

Eskom’s $234mn payment scandal

SOUTH AFRICA THE South African government has named control and instrument system for the six units
four companies that were the recipients of con- of the plant.
tract overpayments from Eskom that totalled “The SIU is in the process of finalising its own
ZAR4bn ($234mn). investigation. A number of meetings took place
Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gord- during 2019 and 2020, during which the parties
han said in a letter to ANC Chief Whip Pemmy discussed the process for establishing the value
Majodina that ABB South Africa, Tubular Con- of the over payment made to ABB,” Eskom said
struction Projects, a joint venture between Ste- in a statement.
fanutti Stocks and Basil Read and a second JV “Numerous employees, including the then
between Stefanutti Stocks and Izazi had been project director, employer’s representative and
named by Eskom as some of the contractors that contracts managers, are being investigated by
had benefited from the overpayments the SIU,” Eskom added.
The payments were for construction work Tenova Mining and Minerals netted an esti-
on the Kusile coal-fired power station, a project, mated ZAR735mn ($43mn) and two Eskom
along with the Medupi coal-fired plant, that has officials involved in the contract had resigned
been plagued by delays and accusations of cor- prior to the SIU investigation.
ruption and illegal payments. The revelations about overpayments to con-
The whole issue is now being investigated by tractors come after consultants Deloitte previ-
the Special Investigating Unit (SIU). ously agreed to pay back ZAR150mn ($8.7mn)
Eskom itself detailed the payments to Par- to Eskom.
liament’s Standing Committee on Appropria- Corruption is one of the major issues that
tions, saying that the four contractors had each Eskom, which is struggling under ZAR450bn
received ZAR1bn ($58.5mn) in overpayment. ($26bn) of debt, must face as the government
Another company, Tenova Mining and Minerals, puts in place a reform package to stave off
had received ZAR735mn ($43mn). bankruptcy.
ABB was appointed using a closed procure- Other corruption issues date back to Presi-
ment tender process, and the strategy included dent Jacob Zuma, who was allegedly close to the
three suppliers who had previous experience Gupta family and its industrial issues. A num-
with the Hitachi Boiler and Alstom Turbine ber of coal supply contracts between Eskom
combination. and miners controlled by Gupta are also being
The contract was for the installation of investigated.™

RENEWABLES

Nedbank, AfDB launch SA’s first green Tier 2

bond to leverage $232mn of investment

POLAND THE African Development Bank (AfDB) Group of over 6,000 new jobs and nearly 20,000 SME
has invested ZAR2bn ($116mn) in pioneering loans, in addition to catalysing around ZAR4bn
Sustainable Development Goals-linked bonds ($232mn) in additional investment in clean
(SDG bonds) issued by Nedbank South Africa. energy.
This investment, which is listed on the green This will help South Africa’s efforts to transit
bonds segment of the Johannesburg Stock away from coal-generated power over the next
Exchange, will strengthen Nedbank’s capital base 10 years.
and enable it to generate ZAR12bn ($696mn) in The investment also promotes financial inclu-
new loans and investments to renewable energy sion for underserved segments of the populace,
and affordable housing projects, the AfDB said such as women and rural dwellers, and will lead
in a statement. to around ZAR2bn ($116mn) in new SME loans
The issue of SDG-linked Tier 2 bonds, the over the next five years.
first of its kind in Africa, is expected to benefit Notably, several thousands of unbanked per-
the South African economy through the creation sons across southern Africa will benefit from

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 27 09•July•2020