Tegeta Resources
Photo by: Reuters
Media reports on Sunday confirm that parastatal Eskom bent over backwards to ensure that the politically-connected Gupta family were awarded a coal deal worth R4-billion, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said.
It was incumbent on Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, as head of government’s “war room” on the energy crisis, to provide a full and detailed explanation as to how this occurred under his watch, whether he was informed about the deal, and what role he played in ensuring it was rubber stamped, DA spokesperson Natasha Mazzone said in a statement.
She intended to write to Ramaphosa to ask questions in this regard.
“Gupta-owned company – Tegeta Exploration and Resources – astonishingly landed a R4-billion deal to supply Majuba power station in Mpumalanga with coal for the next 10 years, despite having been rejected since 2011 due to their poor standard of coal,” Mazzone said.
The company was awarded the deal on its fifth attempt, after failing a coal quality test four times at a cost of R100 000 per test to Eskom. After the deal was concluded, four senior employees were controversially suspended after they questioned the quality of the Gupta coal, she said.
The analysis reports following the tests showed the coal to be supplied as “marginal’, raising questions as to why such dicey coal was chosen over other more suitable options.
“It is a well-known fact that the Gupta family has strong ties to the ANC, and President Jacob Zuma in particular. From the chartering of Gupta-owned aircraft and the infamous ‘Guptagate’, to inflated expenditure by government on advertisements in the Gupta-owned newspaper The New Age, one thing is clear – the Guptas come first, and South Africa comes second.”
Following these developments, Mazzone said she would also be requesting answers from Ramaphosa to other pertinent questions.
These included: how many contracts did Tegeta Exploration and Resources have with Eskom; what was the nature, value, and details of such contracts; had all said contracts followed the prescribed tender process, [and] if not, what were the reasons for deviation from the prescribed tender process; and what other financial interests, directly or indirectly, did the Guptas have in Eskom?
“South Africa has a right to be assured that every cent of public funds is spent to further the lives of every citizen. Our country can ill-afford to have the Guptas or any other politically-connected individuals making a killing on the back of ordinary, hardworking and already pressurised South Africans,” Mazzone said.