An affidavit from acting prosecutions head Mokotedi Mpshe effectively blows apart government’s main charge against his suspended predecessor, Vusi Pikoli — that he had not kept his minister informed. President Thabo Mbeki suspended Pikoli last September.

Eskom board chair Valli Moosa presided over the parastatal giving contracts worth billions to African National Congress (ANC) funding company Chancellor House — while also serving on the ANC’s fundraising committee. Eskom would not say this week whether Moosa had declared a conflict of interest or recused himself when his board decided on the contracts.

A consortium that includes ANC investment company Chancellor House has signed another mega contract with Eskom, almost doubling the ruling party’s stake in — and expected profit from — the parastatal’s drive to build new power stations. Eskom’s five-year capacity expansion programme, designed to catch up with rising electricity demand and prevent further blackouts, has been ramped up and will now top R300-billion.

Information pieced together by the Mail & Guardian suggests the Presidency, the Justice and Constitutional Development Department, National Intelligence Agency and South African Police Service joined in a desperate effort to prevent police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi from being charged.

Gauteng’s top official, provincial Director General Mogopodi Mokoena, co-owned a company with Brett Kebble’s murderer, Clint Nassif, and accepted a R250 000 cheque from him. Mokoena’s links with Nassif were among issues raised by Glenn Agliotti in an affidavit the National Prosecuting Authority submitted to court last week in response to Jackie Selebi’s application to block his prosecution.

The ANC national executive committee (NEC) decision to investigate the arms deal as part of a support strategy for Jacob Zuma represents an attempt to find a political solution to an intractable problem — the criminal charges hanging over the person nominated to lead the country.

The ANC, its outgoing treasurer said in Polokwane this week, repaid the R11-million Oilgate “donation” immediately it appeared there was a dispute about it. So why is state oil company PetroSA — read the taxpayer — still owed millions? Mendi Msimang’s acknowledgment was the first clear confirmation by an ANC official, two and a half years after the Mail & Guardian broke the story, that the party had received the money.

German prosecutors believe Tony Georgiadis, the shipping tycoon regarded as close to President Thabo Mbeki, helped channel millions of dollars in arms deal bribes to ”South African officials and Cabinet members”. The allegation is contained in a request for legal assistance.