Parliament’s Standing Committee on Appropriations says Eskom must account for the alleged erroneous payment made to a contractor.
It emerged that Eskom had overpaid an unnamed contractor about R4 billion. The power utility is now struggling to get the money back.
In a statement, the committee said while it did not want to be involved in a public spat with Eskom, it felt strongly that it should share facts with South Africans about what exactly happened.
Committee chair Sfiso Buthelezi said: ‘Eskom is very important, with a big responsibility. It is therefore important that this matter is dealt with as soon as possible to allow them (Eskom’s management) to focus on the work at hand.’
According to the committee, during its oversight of Eskom’s Megawatt Park in October 2019, Eskom’s Chief Operating Officer Jan Oberholzer briefed the committee on a variety of issues, including the challenges at Medupi/Kusile, load shedding and worker/management relations.
Management also told the committee that it had found a R4 billion overpayment to a certain contractor(s). The said contractor accepted that it was overpaid, and Eskom was in the process of getting that money back.
‘In light of the above, the committee decided that Eskom is to appear before the committee with the report to clear the air,’ the statement said.