Former Eskom acting CEO Matshela Koko set to contest Zondo report findings against him in court

Former Eskom acting CEO Matshela Koko, on 20 December, filed an application in the Gauteng high court to review and set aside certain “adverse findings” made against him contained in the Zondo report. He accused the Commission of having “failed to consider relevant evidence” brought by some witnesses who testified against him at the State Capture Inquiry. 

In his lengthy 189-page affidavit, Koko accused the Commission of failing to examine witnesses who were, he claims, “hiding the truth”. He added that he had appeared before the Commission to give evidence nine times and handed in seven affidavits. However, Koko claims the Commission ignored the evidence he provided when it made its findings. 

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-04-29-eskom-zuma-molefe-koko-and-singh-branded-key-players-in-state-capture/

“The commission was not following the evidence,” he said, adding that it was instead “on a hunt for Koko.”

Koko said that the Zondo Commission’s adverse findings, remarks and conclusions are not “rationally connected to the evidence before the Commission” and should be reviewed and set aside. 

“The Commission’s findings, remarks and conclusions must be rationally related to the purpose for which the power was given,” he said. 

“Otherwise, they are, in effect, arbitrary, inconsistent and unlawful.”

In his affidavit, Koko insists that he only ever acted based on the information that was available to him, and in what he believed were the best interests of Eskom. 

“The advent of State Capture at Eskom, under my watch, if the Commission’s conclusions are anything to go by, have resulted in a marked improvement in Eskom’s financial and operational performance. That is fantastical,” said Koko.