TimesLIVE reports that the Middelburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Tuesday struck former Eskom boss Matshela Koko’s fraud, corruption and money-laundering case off the roll due to unreasonable delays.
Magistrate Stanley Jacobs decided that charges in the R2.2bn Kusile case involving Koko may only proceed once National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) national director of public prosecutions (NDPP) Shamila Batohi has signed it off. “If the matter has to be reinstated, a written letter from the NDPP must be obtained,” Jacobs said, rejecting a request by the NPA’s Investigating Directorate for a further postponement. He said an inquiry into delays found there were undue delays in the matter. Koko and seven co-accused were arrested in October 2022. Charged alongside Koko are his wife, Mosima, and stepdaughters Koketso Aren and Thato Choma. The other accused include Hlupheka Sithole, Eskom’s former project director at Kusile and the most senior official on site. The case involves charges of corruption in a R2.2bn control and instrumentation tender won by Zabb, the local division of the Swedish-Swiss firm ABB. Koko, who was Eskom group CEO at the time, is alleged to have played a vital role in the awarding of contracts to Impulse International, ABB and other subcontractors.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Isaac Mahlangu at BusinessLive
- Read too, Court strikes Koko Eskom graft case from the roll, finds there were unreasonable delays, at News24
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