Kusile Power Station. (Wikus De Wet/AFP)
Former Eskom contractor Michael Lomas appeared in the Palm Ridge Regional Court on Friday, where his corruption case was postponed for the formal disclosure of the case docket.
The 77-year-old Lomas faces 65 counts of corruption linked to the R1.4 billion meant for the upgrade of Eskom’s Kusile power station in Mpumalanga, between 2014 and 2017.
The charges come after the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) successfully extradited Lomas from the United Kingdom last week.
He had fled the country while the case was under investigation, before his co-accused were arrested. Lomas had repeatedly challenged the extradition order issued by the UK’s secretary of state last year, but his appeals were unsuccessful.
Lomas is charged with fraud, corruption, and money laundering. He will stand trial alongside four other accused persons, including former Eskom managers Frans Hlakudi and Abram Masango, who served as the utility’s group executive for capital projects, as well as businessmen Maphoko Kgomoeswana and Antonio Trindade.
Trindade, the chief executive of Tubular Construction Projects, oversaw the construction contract Eskom signed for upgrades at Kusile in 2014. The contract’s costs escalated to nearly double the original price, reaching R1.4 billion. Lomas, who also worked for Tubular Construction, left the country before any arrests were made, prompting IDAC’s extradition efforts.
The case forms part of a larger investigation into corruption at Eskom, where widespread mismanagement and alleged bribery during key construction projects, such as Kusile, have been cited as major contributors to the state-owned utility’s financial and operational troubles.
Lomas did not make a formal bail application during his court appearance and has been remanded in custody. His next appearance will be on 28 October.