Eskom puts up big fight to keep information about contracts secret

The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria today reserved judgment in Eskom’s application for leave to appeal in the Eskom contract case in which the court ruled in AfriForum’s favour in March this year. In terms of that judgment, Eskom had to provide the civil rights organisation with information regarding its coal and diesel contracts within ten days from the date of the judgment.

The case follows an application in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) that AfriForum made to Eskom in July 2022. AfriForum suspects that the contracts contain information that may reveal irregularities and corruption at the power utility.

In Eskom’s application for leave to appeal, the power utility argued, among other things, that the full details of its coal and diesel contracts must be kept confidential.

However, Charné Mostert, Campaign Officer at AfriForum, emphasises that access to all information about these contracts is essential for a comprehensive investigation. “Allegations of irregularities and corruption at Eskom are nothing new. On the contrary, the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector’s 2022 report already exposed numerous evidence of corruption and irregular expenditure in Eskom. AfriForum is geared up to scrutinise the contracts, about which there are now numerous questions regarding its regularity,” explains Mostert.

Eskom’s continued efforts to keep the information secret reaffirm the entity’s tactics of secrecy and their strive to prevent the complete information about the contracts in question from being made public. Seeing that taxpayers finance Eskom, the South African public is entitled to the information.

According to Mostert, it is clear from today’s proceedings that Eskom is ready to go all the way with this appeal process. “Nevertheless, Eskom’s desperate attempts to withhold the information will not stop AfriForum in its goal of obtaining the full truth about these contracts. It is time for Eskom to take responsibility.”