Former Eskom boss Matshela Koko, his wife Mosima and stepdaughter arrested for corruption
Pretoria – Former Eskom acting chief executive Matshela Koko, his wife Mosima, and his stepdaughter Koketso Choma have been arrested on corruption charges, it was reported on Thursday.
A source told IOL that the NPA’s Investigative Directorate had arrested the trio, not the Hawks as had been reported.
In a statement this morning, Sindisiwe Seboka, the spokesperson for the Investigating Directorate said eight people were expected to appear in the Mpumalanga Middleburg Magistrates’ Court on charges of fraud, corruption, and money laundering.
“The accused are to be arraigned on charges arising from alleged irregular contracts granted for the building of Kusile Power Stations valued at over R2 billion. The accused were arrested in Gauteng and Mpumalanga this morning at the crack of dawn,” she said.
According to a News24 report, the arrest of Koko, his wife and stepdaughter relates to a multi-billion rand contract Eskom entered with Swiss engineering company Asea Brown Bovei (ABB) back in 2015.
ABB reportedly subcontracted work to a local company, Impulse International, where Choma was a shareholder.
According to the report, Choma received R30 million from the deal, and some of the money cascaded to Mosima Koko.
The State Capture Inquiry, led by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, recommended that Koko must be investigated and possibly prosecuted for a series of Gupta-linked deals during his tenure at struggling Eskom.
The two were reacting after Zondo’s report stated that there was a “pervasive culture of corrupt practices, mismanagement, and malfeasance that had been inculcated within Eskom promoted by executives and board members since 2014”.
Zondo has recommended that former Eskom executives Anoj Singh, Molefe, and Koko and the power utilities’ board from 2014 be investigated by law enforcement agencies.
He said Singh, Koko and Molefe, and board members should be probed and possibly prosecuted for failing “to exercise their fiduciary duties and prevent financial prejudice” to the power utility in terms of the Public Finance Management Act.
Koko, who has denied any wrongdoing, said the recommendation was no different to that of the National Treasury and Parliament’s inquiry into Eskom.
This is a developing story.
