It’s tough trying to wade through the mountains of news regarding Eskom, the Guptas, Brian Molefe and all those other cronies looting the public coffers at every opportunity.
It’s just another day, another scandal to many, but the latest exposé from the amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism brings to a light a few points it’s worth taking a closer look at.
HuffPost SA have made it nice and (reasonably) simple to follow along so let’s check that out:
- Glencore, which previously owned Optimum, had placed it into business rescue in August last year after Molefe refused to renegotiate the price of a long-term supply contract and reinstated a disputed R2,17 billion penalty that Optimum supposedly owed for supplying substandard coal. [Former Minerals Minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi] Ramatlhodi said he met with Molefe and Ngubane and they allegedly demanded that he suspend all Glencore’s mining licenses in South Africa, pending the payment of the R2,17 billion penalty.
- When Ramatlhodi alleges that after he refused, Zuma replaced him. Everything went smoothly when Mosebenzi Zwane, a Free State politician apparently linked to the Guptas, was put in Ramatlhodi’s place.
- In December, [Public Enterprises Minister Lynne] Brown denied there were ongoing contracts between Eskom and Trillian, but amaBhungane alleges [Gupta-affiliated company] Trillian or its subsidiary companies had invoiced Eskom for R266 million and R153 million between April and December. Just R2 million short of what Madonsela said Trillian had paid towards the Optimum purchase consideration.
- Tegeta were short about R600 million needed to buy Optimum from Glencore. Eskom agreed to give Tegeta a R659 million prepayment for coal on the basis that the Gupta-owned company needed money upfront to “enable it to meet production requirements”. But a Treasury investigation found there was no evidence that Optimum or Tegeta used the funds to procure any equipment, suggesting the money was used to make the controversial purchase instead.
- Trillian had allegedly contributed R235 million to the purchase consideration for Optimum, which was due on April 14 last year. AmaBhungane claimed Trillian invoiced Eskom for R30,7 million on the same day and received payment immediately.
So it’s the same old dirty tricks, with a few more thrown into the mix for good measure.
Imagine living in a country like South Korea, where president Park Geun-hye was impeached within months of the public losing faith in her?
Another day, another looting.
[source:huffpostsa]
