The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday urged Eskom chief executive Thulani Gcabashe to make public the KPMG report on the R129-million fraud scandal at the state electricity utility.
Media reports indicate the report has been known by Gcabashe since May, but he and Eskom’s senior management have chosen ”to keep it under wraps,” DA spokesperson Gareth Morgan said.
”Little is known to have been done in order to ensure that those who are responsible for the losses are brought to book.
”According to the print media, a number of Eskom managers are under investigation by the police, yet only one has been suspended — Zintle Filtane, the former head of Eskom’s communication unit, who has since resigned.”
In a letter to Gcabashe, Morgan said fraud and economic crime were a big problem in South Africa.
It not only affected the impressions held by citizens of government and public companies, but also the impressions held by the international community.
”It is therefore of the utmost importance that we are seen to address these problems in a swift, transparent and proactive manner.
”Making the KPMG report public so that the public and the international community can decide for themselves would be the first step in the right direction,” Morgan said.
Suspicions of financial mismanagement first arose when an answer to a DA question in Parliament revealed that Eskom’s 2004/05 annual report cost R518 a copy to publish, way above what any other government entity spent.
It later emerged that the company awarded the R18-million three-year contract to print Eskom’s reports, Business in Africa Publishing, was overpaid by more than R17-million.
”It has yet to be made known what the remainder of R129-million in financial losses mentioned in the KPMG report consists of,” Morgan said. — Sapa