South Africans are heaving a sigh of relief, not because they see some light at the end of Eskom’s long, dark tunnel, but at last, Eskom’s big fish are getting caught. The first to get hooked was the big one, Gupta shark, Brian Molefe.
Excited about its big catch, the NPA cast its bait for another big one, Matshela Koko, the suspected looter who had been swimming in the deep, feeding voraciously on Eskom. The NPA hooked all of them: the former Eskom chief Koko, his wife, two stepdaughters and four others on charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering in relation to the R2 billion irregular contract for the building of the Kusile power station.
While Koko and three others were released on R300 000 bail, the other four were released on R70 000 each, with strict bail conditions.
The high bail money gives an indication of the net worth of these alleged fraudsters. While we were groping in the dark, Koko and company were enjoying the bright lights, partying and spending on overseas holidays and luxury items like there was no tomorrow.
Although Koko claimed in court that he was unemployed, the State countered that he had foreign business interests amounting to millions of dollars and posed a serious flight risk. How much must he, his family and accomplices have enriched themselves while he was the head of Eskom?
In his report, Judge Zondo stated that under Koko’s leadership, Eskom was infested by a deadly disease of a “pervasive culture of corrupt practices, mismanagement, and malfeasance”, which was crippling the power utility. It recommended that all of them – Koko, Brian Molefe, Anoj Singh and their accomplices – be investigated and prosecuted.
Now, Koko and party must face the music. While all sensible, lawabiding citizens work hard and then celebrate their success, Koko, Molefe and company chose to do it the other way round: celebrate first and then face the long, drawn-out ordeal of the law.
* T Markandan, Kloof.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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