DA calls for ex-Eskom bigwig to testify before Zondo Commission following ANC bribery allegations

8 April 2021

The DA calls for Ms Thandi Marah, a former senior Eskom official, alleged to have been at the centre of a bribery scandal at the utility, to be summoned to testify before the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture.

According to media reports today, Econ Oil & Energy Ltd. allegedly won contracts to supply Eskom with fuel oil at the inflated cost of R15 billion, because Ms Marah, the then Senior Manager of Business Enablement at Eskom interfered in the tender processes. Econ Oil & Energy Ltd. allegedly sweetened the deal by offering donations and bribes requested by Marah, including a R100 000 donation to the ANC.

In addition to Ms Marah testifying before the Zondo Commission, the DA also calls on the ANC to pay back the R100 000 donation it is alleged to have received from this oil company. This tainted bribe was clearly nothing more than a bribe.

This scandal is yet another example of how the ANC is structurally prevented from taking a strong stance again corruption because it always been one of the main benefactors of the corruption and maladministration at SOEs.

It is imperative that a strong message is sent to the ANC that the public will not condone their continued looting and dodgy backroom dealings.

All corrupt officials at SOEs need to be made aware that there is no place to hide for looters as the DA seeks to ensure, via  the Zondo Commission,  that all those implicated be held fully accountable.

Issued by Ghaleb Cachalia, DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises, 8 April 2021