State-owned power utility Eskom has issued an invitation to tender or request for proposals for the provision of forensic and anticorruption services to resolve a backlog of forensic investigations.

While Eskom maintains internal forensic capability, the scale and specialised nature of legacy cases require additional expertise to support accelerated delivery. This project forms part of the utility’s broader efforts to strengthen governance and accelerate consequence management across the organisation.

Interested service providers have until 10:00 on June 23 to submit their tender documents and proposals, with the project scheduled to get under way from September 1.

Multiple contracts will be awarded to between eight and ten suppliers, with work to be allocated on an equal distribution basis to ensure accelerated case resolution and optimal resource use.

The appointed panel of forensic service providers is expected to possess unique skills and capabilities such as conducting digital forensics, the capacity to apply data analytics, AI polygraph services and handwriting and document analysis.

The forensic investigative function is a critical component of Eskom’s governance, assurance and consequence management framework and plays a central role in safeguarding organisational integrity, strengthening accountability and sustaining public, stakeholder and shareholder confidence.

Eskom currently operates on a co-sourced model in that all reported allegations are either investigated internally or by the appointed external service providers.

Previously, the accumulation of legacy forensic matters increased the volume of outstanding cases, thereby constraining the utility’s ability to conclude investigations and disciplinary processes within optimal timeframes and demonstrate effective consequence management.

All appointments will be conducted in line with Eskom’s procurement processes to ensure fairness, transparency and compliance with applicable regulatory requirements.