DA to lay charges against Just Coal CEO and ANCYL’s Maine for bribery and corruption

26 September 2017

Just Coal CEO, Joe Singh, must immediately be arrested following his admission that he paid the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) half a million Rand in a bid to score political favours.

According to reports ANCYL president, Collen Maine, accepted a R500 000 “donation”from Singh, in the hopes that the League would convince Eskom against terminating their contract with Just Coal.

Singh’s shameless on-air confession is an admission of guilt and Maine’s acceptance of the questionable “donation” points towards his complicity in a crime.

This was not just a donation. This was clearly a bribe to persuade politically aligned individuals close to Eskom to act in Just Coal’s interest.

In an interview, Singh admitted that “We did have an expectation, it was that someone politically aligned could deal with [Matshela Koko]."

Despite reports indicating that Maine failed to deliver on this promise, money still exchanged hands in what was clearly a blatant attempt to unduly influence an Eskom executive.

Bribery is a crime and Singh must be held accountable for his illegal and unethical conduct.

The DA also calls on the ANCYL to come clean and prove that this was a legitimate donation and that the monies did not line the pockets of any one individual but that it went towards the empowerment of our youth.

The DA will also be laying charges against Singh and Maine on the allegations that the two possibly contravened Section 3 of the Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities (PACCA) Act, which states that:

“Any person who, directly or indirectly […] (a) accepts or agrees or offers to accept any gratification from any other person, whether for the benefit of himself or herself or for the benefit of another person; or […] (b) gives or agrees or offers to give to any other person any gratification, whether for the benefit of that other person or for the benefit of another person, in order to act, personally or by influencing another person so to act, in a manner [which is] illegal, dishonest, unauthorised, incomplete, or biased […]is guilty of the offence of corruption”.

Singh’s admission that his company paid the ANCYL to assist Just Coal in extending their Eskom contract can be seen as a general offence of corruption, in terms of Section 3 of the PACCA Act as set out above.

The DA will ensure that Singh and Maine face the full might of the law and account for their questionable conduct.

Issued by Natasha Mazzone, DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises, 26 September 2017