Former Eskom chief Matshela Koko out on R300,000 bail

Matshela Koko and former SA Local Government Association chief executive Thabo Mokwena, Eskom project director at Kusile (most senior on site) Hlupeka Sithole and Watson Seswai were also released on R300,000 bail.

Koko’s wife Mosima, his stepdaughters Koketso Aren and Thabo Choma, and lawyer Johannes Coetzee were each released on R70,000. They were ordered to hand in their passports and are not allowed to apply for new travel documents.

Matshela Koko in court on Thursday. (Photo: Bonga Mahlangu)

On Thursday, court proceedings were delayed due to rolling blackouts and only commenced at 2pm, with the bail decision reached at about 7pm.

Initially, the court heard Koko’s contention that he was unemployed and unable to afford the high bail amount asked for by the state - in the same breath, the court heard his business interest outside the country amounted to millions of US dollars. The State argued that this made him as a flight risk. 

Koko, his wife and his two stepdaughters are among eight people arrested on Thursday following a joint operation by the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA's) Investigating Directorate (ID). They were arrested in Gauteng and Mpumalanga. 



The eight are among a total of 17 accused in this matter, according to the charge sheet. They face 25 charges, including fraud, corruption and money laundering.

The NPA’s ID national spokesperson, Sindisiwe Seboka, said the charges stem from alleged irregular contracts valued at more than R2-billion granted for building the Kusile power station.

“The State alleged that a portion of the money was used to benefit Koko and his family, and shell companies were set up to launder money. It is also based on various other buttering systems that we allege took place where various other companies were used. 

“In the court papers, it is alleged that money laundering vehicles were set up by Coetzee to syphon money from Impulse International to benefit the Koko family,” Seboka said.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-07-13-eskom-calls-for-more-arrests-after-ex-abb-employees-apprehended/

The origin of the alleged irregularities goes back to the 2009 Eskom deal with Alstom to undertake the C&I (Control and Instrumentation) contract at Kusile Power Station. But Alstom did not perform and Eskom engineers recommended that Siemens be appointed.

In a statement the ID averred: “The State alleges that Group Executive Technology and Commercial Koko purportedly influenced and abused his position to have Siemens, Billfinger-Mauell and ABB invited to bid for a closed tender.

“Mauell dropped out of the tender process and ABB South Africa was eventually appointed in 2015. ABB was awarded the C&I multimillion-rand contract. The State alleges that it then resulted in ABB South Africa appointing a company owned by Mokwena to provide skills development and industrialisation (SDL) work to the value of R96-million, excluding VAT.”

This led to four variation orders allegedly granted to ABB South Africa in 2016 by Sithole, to provide extra work not covered in the initial multibillion-rand C&I contract.

The State further contends that money flowed from the multibillion-rand contract and that this was the first attempt to allegedly launder money on behalf of Koko.

ID head Andrea Johnon said: “This arrest is about accountability and the rule of law. We must execute the NPA’s constitutional mandate for justice - it is imperative for the country and its people that we serve without fear, favour or prejudice.”

The matter heads back to court on 23 March 2023. DM