BL Premium reports that former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter told MPs on Wednesday that the decade-long delay in the opening of the New Largo coal mine in Mpumalanga was probably the result of corrupt dealing by those with an interest in the delivery by road of poor quality coal to the Kusile power station.

The delay meant that Kusile has had to rely on large quantities of coal from smaller mines being trucked by road into the station, instead of transporting it by conveyor belt from the nearby New Largo deposit for which the power station was built. De Ruyter, who appeared before parliament’s standing committee on public accounts to answer questions about his allegations of corruption at Eskom, was questioned about the mine. The former CEO said: “The delay in commissioning New Largo I think can in all probability be attributed to the fact that there were beneficiaries of coal being transported by road and there is ample evidence that the quality of coal that was delivered to Kusile was below standard and that Kusile was significantly exposed to the consequences of poor quality coal being delivered in terms of reliability.” New Largo, originally owned by Anglo American, is the closest coal mine to Kusile and has significant reserves of the right quality. But a deal between Anglo and Eskom to develop the New Largo mine was halted during the tenure of the then public enterprises minister Malusi Gigaba a decade ago and there has been little progress since. Anglo sold the mine to Seriti Resources some years ago. Seriti’s Linda Khuluse indicated on Thursday” “Albeit delayed, Seriti is in the process of concluding various 10-year coal supply agreements with Eskom which will provide Kusile power station with cost-competitive security of coal supply from the adjacent colliery at the necessary specifications.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Linda Ensor at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)

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