Johannesburg – The Zondo commission will continue to hear Eskom-related evidence from the power utility’s former acting chief executive, Matshela Koko.
In his last appearance, Koko claimed President Cyril Ramaphosa interfered in the affairs of the power utility by instructing the board to dismiss him.
The leader of the ANC appeared at the Zondo Commission last week where he faced questions on the ANC's cadre deployment strategy and the party's role in SOEs, amongst other things. The commission was criticised for treating Ramaphosa with "kid gloves".
Koko took the stand in early March and faced questions regarding an R1.68 billion guarantee that was awarded to Gupta owned Tegeta Exploration and Resources.
The deal enabled the family's company to purchase Optimum coal mine from Glencore.
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MORNING SESSION
MORNING SESSION
Koko distanced himself from allegations that he played a role in the allocation of the R1.68bn guarantee to Tegeta.
Koko also testified that it was not easy working with former board chairs Ben Ngubane and Zola Tsotsi.
He said he didn't know that former Eskom CFO Anoj Singh appointed Trillian to come up with a funding plan for the power utility.
Koko said he advised the board to reverse the approval of McKinsey’s top engineer's project because it was not in line with treasury directives.
He said the commission was getting it all wrong because it was on a "Koko hunt".
“If you are not targeting me, if you are not on a "Koko hunt" you might get the right answers.
On Monday, the commission heard damning evidence from former Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) group chief executive Lucky Montana who claimed it was "a way of life" for the ANC to to use public funds to fund its political activities and for ANC leaders to advance their own personal agendas.
Montana told the commission that the ANC had a culture of requesting funding from SOEs through connections.
“I was disappointed when I listened to what the ANC told you in this commission. Our president was here. And I thought that the leadership of the country would reflect honestly on what had happened over the past," he said.
Montana said that he would attend meetings at the ANC’s headquarters in Luthuli House once a month and was often asked to assist with the party’s finances.
He alleged the ANC would give him a list of suppliers that the party owed and tell him "we think you must assist us in this way".
Political Bureau