Professor Anton Eberhard and Catrina Godinho have published ‘The Eskom Inquiry Reference Book' as an aid to the upcoming Parliamentary inquiry into so-called State capture at the power utility.

The inquiry by the Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises is due to kick off later this month. It will probe allegations of State capture at three of South Africa’s State-owned companies (SoCs), namely Eskom, Transnet, and Denel.

The research book has been compiled as part of the 'State Capacity Research Project', which is made up of a group of academics from research institutions at the universities of Stellenbosch, Witwatersrand, Cape Town and Johannesburg.

The authors of the reference book say they have set out to provide an independent, accessible, concise, and fact-based account of some, but not all, of the alleged instances of governance failure and corruption at the largest SoC, being Eskom.

The authors expressed the hope that a streamlined and objective account of the deeply complex challenges facing the power utility will be of assistance to the committee, as well as members of the general public.