NUM WELCOMES THE RULING BY THE SOUTH GAUTENG HIGH COURT TO SET ASIDE THE R8 BILLION TENDER BETWEEN ESKOM AND ECON OIL.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) welcomes the ruling by the South Gauteng High Court to set aside the R8 Billion tender between Eskom and Econ Oil after the matter was argued on the 9th of June 2021. The court recently (29 June 2021) found that the contract was unlawful.
The contract entered into by Eskom and Econ oil in 2019 changed from R850 million to R8 billion. The contract was to supply Hendrina power station with fuel oil. The presiding officer judge Bashier Vally said the tender was tarnished by “irregularity and illegality” and that it also contravened public procurement policy.
This will go a long way in fighting corruption in state-owned entities and the private sector. These are the kind of deals that have crippled state-owned entities and facilitated a looting frenzy in the public sector and the collapse of service delivery. Eskom today has no sufficient financial capacity to sustain service to South African society as a result of such rot. As the NUM, we welcome the finding and determination of the court.
Role of the board
We note that the judge also made pronouncements on the role of the board which we regard as an important character assessment and discretion by the judge. For instance, the judge said “ Had the board applied its mind properly to the matter it would have had no choice but to forsake the outcome of the negotiations [with Econ oil and others]. Instead, it chose to adopt it. By doing it perpetuated the illegality and gave it legal effect”.