LIVE: Inquiry goes south on “rubbish” comments

Ngubane has met with most of the Guptas – inquiry hears

Former Eskom board chair Ben Ngubane said that he had met
with the Guptas during his tenure at Eskom.

He was responding to a question from EFF MP and member of
the portfolio committee on public enterprises Marshall Dlamini.

Ngubane said that he had met most of the Gupta family.
Ngubane said that he mainly engaged with them at social events, such as
weddings or the South African of the Year awards.

Dlamini probed Ngubane on whether he had met with them at
their homes during his tenure at Eskom.

To this Ngubane said yes.

“I was invited for special
occasions and I went,” he said.

When asked on his views on the Gupta leaked emails and the
state capture inquiry, Ngubane said he would await the commission of inquiry to
happen to know all the facts about the Gupta leaks.

Molefe’s exit disastrous for Eskom, SA – Ngubane

Former Eskom board chair Ben Ngubane says that Brian
Molefe’s departure from Eskom was disastrous not only for the power utility,
but for the country.

He was responding to criticisms of the power utility presented
by DA MP Natasha Mazzone and member of the portfolio committee on public
enterprises.

In response Ngubane spoke on the role Molefe played in
turning the situation around. “When we came in, the problems were already there
and they were big,” he said. Eskom was on the precipice of disaster.

“Here comes Molefe. The funders, people who buy Eskom bonds
go back to buying Eskom bonds,” he said.

Ngubane added by the time he left the power utility, its
finances were “shooting up” because of the buy-in by bondholders.

“Molefe leaving was a disaster for Eskom and the country.”

Ngubane said that when people in acting positions came in,
there was a lot of instability.

“I knew if you remove good leadership you are calling for
trouble. I made an emotional statement saying it (Molefe’s exit) is a blow for
Eskom and the country.”

Mazzone then slammed Ngubane’s leadership and said that
under his watch the Land Bank, among other things, collapsed.

He responded by listing other examples of his role in turning
things for the better, such as his time as chair of the SABC. He also said that Nersa had brought down the electricity tariffs during his tenure. 

Ngubane had a business relationship with Salim Essa – inquiry hears

Former Eskom board chair Ben Ngubane said that he had a
business relationship with Gupta-business associate Salim Essa.

“I came to know Essa around 2013. It was about oil business
in West Africa. It is a long story,” he told members of the portfolio committee
on public enterprises.

Ngubane said he was at restaurant JB’s with people involved
in mining. “Salim came to me and introduced himself. And I introduced him to
the people I was with, he knew we were talking about oil business.”

Essa informed Ngubane that he had his own oil business, and
wanted to be part of Ngubane’s Gade Oil and Gas. “It was a business
relationship.”

The project was cancelled because of the violence in the
Central African Republic.

No collapse of corporate governance at Eskom – Ngubane

Former Eskom Board chair Ben Ngubane denied that Brian
Molefe attended a committee meeting where his remuneration and pension package
was discussed.

During questioning by evidence leader Advocate Ntuthuzelo
Vanara, Ngubane relayed details on Molefe’s appointment, salary and early
retirement.

Ngubane said that Molefe’s salary was no different to basic
packages of previous CEOs at Eskom. He also said that the disparity in pay
levels between the top executives of a company and workers is a fact of the system
society operated.

“I do not set levels of payment at Eskom or any state-owned
enterprise. The chairman of a board does not set payment levels. We get that
from the system.”

Vanara in turn referred to the court ruling which ordered
Molefe to pay back his early retirement millions.

In the ruling three judges
said that Eskom’s decision to grant Molefe R30.1m after 115 months of service
was unlawful and not in compliance with the rules of the pension fund.

The
judgement said that it reflected greed of people in leadership positions
abusing public finds.

Ngubane said that there is a lot of greed, but it is the
nature of the state of the system. He added that this indictment would apply to
the likes of Steinhoff and other multinationals.

Vanara further questioned Ngubane on Molefe’s presence at a
committee meeting where his remuneration was discussed.

Molefe could have been in the general meeting but when discussing
prescribed remuneration, it is standard procedure for those in question to
recuse themselves, said Ngubane.

Vanara said that in institutions where corporate governance
is supreme that would happen, but not in one where corporate governance has
collapsed. Ngubane would not admit that there was a collapse of corporate
governance at Eskom.

Vanara pointed out that the court ruling showed Molefe had
not recused himself. Ngubane denied this happened. “I would like to see the minutes of the meeting. I cannot believe that happened… I do not know where it comes from.”

Vanara once again asked Ngubane if he ojected to what three
judges said which suggested a collapse in corporate governance at Eskom.

To
this Ngubane replied: “I am denying it.”

Chair Zukiswa Rantho asked Ngubane to clarify if he was
disputing what the judges said. In his reply Ngubane said that judges make
decisions based on the information they have.

Vanara also asked Ngubane why he had not checked with the
minister that Molefe’s pension payout was approved. Ngubane said that he
received acknowledgement of that his letter was received by the DG.

Vanara asked if that amounted to ministerial approval.
Ngubane said it did not amount to ministerial approval. “It amounts to the fact
that the minister is aware of what we are doing.”

Brown didn’t call Ngubane to stop Koko’s suspension – inquiry hears

Eskom delayed suspending Matshela Koko in March 2017 to
avoid litigation, the Eskom inquiry heard.

During questioning by evidence leader Advocate Ntuthuzelo
Vanara, former Eskom board chair Ben Ngubane spoke on why Eskom had not suspended
Koko after he was implicated in a whistleblower report.

“To suspend directly on a whistleblower note without going
through process would be illegal,” said Ngubane.

“He would have taken us to the
CCMA and Labour court and won if we took steps not in law or policy.”

Ngubane also said that he did not solely make the decision
not to suspend Koko, it was a matter that the board and the people and
governance committee had engaged on.

“I did not just say ‘no suspension anymore’.
It was a product of our consultations.”

Koko was given 48 hours to make his case to avoid
suspension. Thereafter the matter was referred to the audit and risk committee.

Ngubane could not call out specific reasons as to why the
board was considering suspending Koko. He said that it was the “collectiveness
of the issues” raised in the whistleblower report which were considered.

Ngubane also said that he did not get a phone call from former
Public Enterprise Minister Lynne Brown to halt the decision.

“The minister called me often, particularly after work at
Parliament,” he said. There were issues such as stability of Eskom, which Brown
was concerned with.

“She phoned me, but it was not about Koko. It was about
Eskom business. It was about a whole lot of processes that dealt with Eskom
stability.”

Ngubane explained that the allegation presented in the
whistleblower report was defamatory and unsubstantiated. Before suspending
Koko, it was decided to place him on special leave while he was to be
investigated.

Nothing unique about prepaid coal agreements – Ngubane

Former Eskom board chair Ben Ngubane said that the
pre-payment for coal is not “unique” and has been done in the past.

He spoke on the prepayment of over R659m to Gupta-linked
company Tegeta.

Ngubane said that prepayment agreements form part of the
procurement mandate approved by Eskom’s Board Tender Committee in 2008.

“It is used in large projects, coal mining contracts and
emergency supply contracts,” he said.

He referred to the public protector’s report on the matter
which also noted that Eskom has the policies in place to allow for prepayments.

But in the same report the public protector said that if Eskom conducted due diligence
of Optimum Coal Mine, Eskom would have seen that it would not make commercial
sense to contract with Tegeta for a higher price of coal.

Ngubane pointed out a preliminary legal opinion
indicated that the transaction was not in contravention of the PFMA.

Ngubane sheds light on Molefe’s pension payout

Brian Molefe received millions on his early retirement from
Eskom, Parliament heard.

Former board chair Ben Ngubane disclosed the circumstances
of Brian Molefe’s appointment of group chief executive of Eskom as well as his
pension package.

Molefe requested early retirement on November 11, 2016.

Molefe’s early retirement was discussed at a special people
and governance committee meeting on November 21.

On November 24, Ngubane approved the early retirement and
confirmed all penalties would be waived for Molefe.

On March 23, 2017 the amounts paid to Molefe in respect of
his salary up to December 2016 were R575 679.91, leave due to him came to over
R226 200 and a short term bonus of over R2m. The total paid to Molefe was
R2.9m.

On April 19, 2017 former Public Enterprise Minister Lynne Brown called a meeting to discuss the
pension pay-out of R30m as it was not accepted.

Molefe had already received 30% of his pension
benefit in January 2017. Molefe said he only received R7.7m from the Eskom
Pension and Provident Fund and of this R4.3m was a transfer from the Transnet
Pension Fund. 

Committee plans to hear from Gigaba, Guptas and Duduzane Zuma all on one day

In a race to wrap up their work on the Eskom inquiry, the portfolio committee on public enterprises plans to hear from Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba, the Gupta brothers and Duduzane Zuma all on one day.

Before kicking off the inquiry on Wednesday, where former board chair Ben Ngubane is expected to testify, chair Zukiswa Rantho settled a few administrative issues.

This includes the appearance of several others, including former SAA chair Dudu Myeni.

Committee members accepted Gigaba’s request for an extension to appear before the committee. Gigaba has been granted 10 days to prepare, and will appear before the inquiry on Tuesday, March 13.

As for the Gupta brothers Atul and Ajay, committee members were concerned that Atul who is a fugitive may not appear. It is proposed that business associates Salim Essa and Eric Wood appear instead. 

The inquiry had eight months to do its work and a report of the findings was to be submitted to Parliament in March 2018.

Committee members agreed that the inquiry should wrap up by the end of the month. 

Gigaba given 10 days to prepare for Eskom Inquiry

Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has 10 days to prepare
for his appearance before the Eskom inquiry.

Gigaba was scheduled to appear before the portfolio
committee on public enterprises on Tuesday, but sent a letter to the chair
Zukiswa Rantho on Friday March 2, requesting an extension.

The committee members accepted his request.

Gigaba has been caught up in dealing with matters relating
to the naturalization of the Gupta family.

The home affairs minister on Tuesday confirmed at a media
briefing that Ajay Gupta and his brother Atul are not South African citizens,
News24 reported.

Gigaba provided clarity on the process of their naturalization.
Allegations were made that Gigaba helped fast-track the process for them in
2015.

Gigaba is expected to testify on his tenure as public enterprise
minister between 2009 and 2014. He has been criticised for the regression of
several state-owned enterprises under his watch.

He asked the oversight committee for more time to prepare
for his appearance at the inquiry, and wants specifity on the matters he should
account for, City Press reported.

Dudu Myeni can’t appear before Eskom Inquiry due to health

Former SAA board chair Dudu Myeni says she cannot physically
appear before the Eskom inquiry due to health reasons.

This is according to Chair Zukiswa Rantho, who dealt with a
few administrative issues before the inquiry kicked off on Wednesday.

Myeni had responded to the many letters sent by the
committee requesting her appearance on Wednesday.

Myeni called Rantho on Tuesday explaining that she is not
well, said Rantho.

“Her doctor booked her off. She is really apologizing.”

Myeni said she was not undermining the
committee, but she had sent written submissions.

Rantho said the written
submissions would not be acceptable, Myeni has to appear before the inqiry to
be questioned by the committee.

Myeni however cannot fly down and would have to drive down
from Johannesburg to Cape Town.

Rantho said that she is still waiting for Myeni to send
through the doctor’s certificate.

Committee members raised concerns that this may be an
inevitable delay, when they have “work to do” and deadlines to meet.

Rantho suggested the committee go to Johannesburg to hear
from Myeni. This was not accepted by DA MP Natasha Mazzone who pointed out the costs that would have to be incurred to fly up the whole
committee.

ANC MP Rembuluwani Tseli also said that flying up to accommodate
Myeni would set a precedent for other witnesses.

Myeni has 24 hours to provide a doctor’s note. The committee
wants her to appear next Wednesday.

Myeni was to appear before the inquiry last week,as she was implicated in the testimony Eskom chair Zola
Tsotsi. According to his testimony Tsotsi said he met with Myeni in March 2015,
at her request, at the Durban presidential residence. According to Tsotsi, she
discussed with him the suspension of Eskom’s then chief executive Tshediso
Matona and executives Dan Marokane and Matshela Koko.

Myeni denies this event in her written submission, ACDP MP Steven Swart said.

Ngubane appears before Eskom inquiry

Former
Eskom board chair Ben Ngubane will appear before the Eskom inquiry on
Wednesday, after being named and implicated in the testimonies of others.

Ngubane
quit as Eskom chair in June 2017. The Eskom board at the time was shocked by
the surprise decision.

Ngubane
was implicated in the Gupta leaks which
included revelations of capture of state power utility Eskom.

Following
his tenure as chair of the SABC between 2010 and 2013, Ngubane was appointed
Eskom board chair in 2015.

Former
Mineral Resources Minister came out with strong allegations in May 2017 that
Ngubane and CEO Brian Molefe tried to pressurize him to help the Guptas by
suspending the mining licences of Glencore mines.

Ngubane in turn called the
allegations “barefaced lies”.

During
his testimony before the inquiry in November 2017, Molefe shared his version of
the event.

Molefe told the committee that he did not support moves to suspend
Glencore’s licence. He also explained that Glencore, out of its own had sold
Optimum Coal mine to Gupta-owned Oakbay.

Molefe
also shared the circumstances surrounding his resignation, which Ngubane
presided over.

The
committee will hear Ngubane’s evidence at 09:30.