BL Premium reports that Special Tribunal judge Thina Siwendu has ordered that the R11m held in a bank account linked to a suspended Eskom manager, which she deemed to be proceeds of unlawful activities, be forfeited to the state.

This comes after the tribunal granted the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) an interim order in April to freeze the funds after a whistle-blower alleged that suspended Eskom coal operations senior manager Petrus Mazibuko was receiving unauthorised payments from two Eskom suppliers. The payments from Commodity Logistix Managers Africa and Thembathlo were made through a bank account with FNB held by Thephunokheja Projects, a company run by Petrus Mazibuko and his brother Shadrak. Thephunokheja’s bank statements, according to the SIU investigation, showed that the only source of income was from the two Eskom suppliers. In her judgment on Tuesday, Siwendu said the Mazibukos’ conduct and that of Thephunokheja contravened the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, in that they accepted gratification from the Eskom suppliers for their benefit to influence an unjust result. Petrus had not disclosed to Eskom that he was a director of Thephunokheja, and he told the Special Tribunal in September that he did not know the source of the funds in the FNB bank account. Siwendu said she found the “plea of ignorance unpalatable” that Mazibuko did not know the source of the funds in the bank account.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
• Read too, State confiscates R11.5m from bank account of former senior Eskom manager, at Fin24

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