Eskom welcomes conviction of former boss

Eskom on Monday welcomed the conviction of its former senior manager, Dawid Malherbe, who was found guilty of fraud and money laundering by the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Cape Town on Friday last week.

Malherbe was arrested in 2013 after Eskom alerted the Hawks of suspected irregularities in which he allegedly awarded a tender to his own company, Energy Utility Services, during his tenure as the power utility’s managing director between 2007 and 2009.

Eskom said internal investigations as well as the reports from external auditors found that Malherbe’s actions amounted to wasteful and fruitless expenditure on the part of Eskom.

The loss which Eskom endured was quantified to be in the region of R65 million.

The Asset Forfeiture Unit has thus far managed to recoup approximately R10 million through the attachment of the accused’s assets.

According to the Hawks, sentencing proceedings are scheduled for 11 August at the same court.

"The Hawks involvement was a result of a partnership that Eskom had entered into with the government’s corruption fighting agency, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), in March 2011," Eskom said in a statement late Monday.

"The three-year partnership sought to uncover any corrupt practices or conflicts of interest, and identify risks for Eskom, including contract fraud and legal non-compliance."

Eskom said this partnership helped it to ensure that it was ethical, well governed and had appropriate fraud detection and prevention measures in place.

"If corrupt activities are found, by Eskom staff or contractors, appropriate action is taken with immediate effect, including criminal prosecution if it is warranted."