The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has noted and welcomes Eskom and the SIU’s efforts to recover about R3.8 billion worth of looted funds from former senior officials of Eskom and the members of the infamous Gupta family.

This is long overdue, and it is necessary in fixing the ailing power utility. The era of impunity is over and corrupt politicians’ officials, managers, and board members, who have looted Eskom should be held accountable.

The Federation is disappointed though that the SAPS, the Hawks, the Assets Forfeiture Unit, and the NPA are missing in action. We expect more from these state institutions. They need to play their role in fighting the cancer of corruption. 

 Eskom has destroyed the South African economy and millions of livelihoods. While we are happy that there is some movement in recovering the stolen funds, we still demand a public forensic audit to look into the flawed procurement processes, and the exorbitantly corrupt  financial transactions and deals that have been signed over the last two decades.

Corrupt, fraudulent, and burdensome contracts at Eskom must be canceled. Quality control and transparency must be restored, and proper management and governance systems must be introduced to ensure that work gets done and resources are not stolen nor wasted.

These are key components of the Eskom Social Compact and Implementation Plan initiated by COSATU and soon to be adopted by the Presidential Working Committee at Nedlac.  Its adoption must be speeded up to ensure the power utility is turned around.  Both Eskom and the government need to account to social partners at Nedlac.

Issued by COSATU