/ 15 April 2010

Hitachi deal: Let’s get all the facts first, says Gordhan

Hitachi Deal: Let's Get All The Facts First

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on Wednesday called on Chancellor House’s shareholders to “do the right thing” and deal with any conflict of interest arising from business dealings of the ANC’s investment arm.

But he also told reporters that the full facts of the ANC’s involvement in Chancellor House, and through it in Hitachi Power Africa, were unclear, even to Treasury.

“The first thing is to get more clarity, which even I am trying to get as to what is Chancellor House, who are its shareholders, where does the ANC actually fit in, who has a stake in Hitachi and how much of Hitachi’s involvement is there in Eskom as a whole?

“Even you guys haven’t reported on it properly, by the way. Right?” he said on the sidelines of a briefing by the treasury and the South African Revenue Service to Parliament’s portfolio committee on finance.

“So can we put all the facts on the table, so we can understand what the proportions are before we wildly wave flags about it?” he said.

The ANC was a “responsible organisation” with a long history of ethical standards. Chancellor House apparently had its own board, own chief executive and was an independent entity of the ANC, he said.

“Its shareholders must do the right thing and ensure that if there is any conflict of interest they must deal with it.”

Reports of a stand-off
The remarks come amid reports of a stand-off between top ANC officials on whether Chancellor House would sell its 25% stake in Hitachi Power Africa, which has a R16-billion contract to supply boilers for Eskom’s new Medupi power station.

ANC treasurer general Mathews Phosa is on record as saying the party’s investment arm would dispose of the stake within six weeks.

But he has been contradicted by secretary general Gwede Mantashe, who said the decision did not belong to Luthuli House as Chancellor House had its own board.

He added that Chancellor House’s stake in Hitachi did not translate into the ANC having a stake in the consortium.

The link between the ruling party, its investment company and Eskom’s expansion programme, and allegations about the extent of any conflict of interest, have been hotly debated for months.

In February, a public protector’s report found ANC heavyweight and former Eskom chairperson Valli Moosa had failed to manage a conflict of interest that arose when the utility awarded the Medupi contract to the Hitachi consortium. — Sapa