{"id":836351,"date":"2025-08-29T11:22:40","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T09:22:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=836351"},"modified":"2025-08-29T11:23:01","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T09:23:01","slug":"eskom-paid-r2-6-million-for-a-r60000-container-that-it-couldnt-even-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/energy\/836351\/eskom-paid-r2-6-million-for-a-r60000-container-that-it-couldnt-even-use\/","title":{"rendered":"Eskom paid R2.6 million for a R60,000 container that it couldn&#8217;t even use"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Power utility Eskom has welcomed the sentencing of a supplier who defrauded the company of almost R3 million by inflating invoices for containers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the group, the supplier in question had invoiced to provide the group with three containers valued at R60,000 each (ie, R180,000).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, only one container was ultimately delivered and failed to meet Eskom&#8217;s specifications. Through inflated invoices, the supplier managed to defraud the utility of R2.6 million (1,344% inflated).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The fraud took place at the Tutuka Power Station in 2020. Eskom&#8217;s investigations uncovered a syndicate that operated the scheme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The director and majority shareholder in one of the implicated companies, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for fraud, suspended for five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The supplier was also sentenced to four years in prison for money laundering, suspending for give years, and ordered to repay Eskom R2.595 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eskom has a long history with paying over-inflated invoices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the years, it has emerged that the group approved paying R238,000 for a mop and R80,000 for knee guards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some of the other inflated prices it has paid include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>R26 for a single-ply roll of toilet paper which cost R5 \u2013 a 420% markup.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>R51 for a black refuse bag, which retailed for R2.99.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A mop for R238,000.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>R80,000 for knee pads which cost R150 at Builders Warehouse.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>One kneepad supplier paid R4,025 and charged Eskom R934,950.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The group manages a procurement budget of tens of billions of rands, making it ripe for fraudulent procurement practices and corruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur commitment to eliminating corruption remains unwavering and these developments send a<br>clear message: fraud and corruption will not be tolerated,&#8221; Eskom said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The utility stressed that the &#8220;vast majority&#8221; of Eskom employees act with integrity and dedication, but those who do not would be pursued with all available resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We will pursue those who betray the organisation and the country with our law enforcement partners and seek prosecutions wherever possible,\u201d said Eskom Group Chief Executive, Dan Marokane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To strengthen governance and accelerate investigations, Eskom has consolidated its forensic, security, and investigative functions into the Group Investigations and Security (GIS) Division, which reports directly to the Group Chief Executive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Working closely with the NATJOINTS Energy Safety and Security Committee, GIS ensures swift action against fraud and corruption, protecting Eskom\u2019s assets and maintaining public trust,&#8221; it said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The director of an Eskom supplier has been arrested and charged with fraud and money laundering, after inflating invoices by over 1,300%<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":642081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9874],"tags":[3939,1164],"class_list":["post-836351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-corruption","tag-eskom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=836351"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":836355,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836351\/revisions\/836355"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/642081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=836351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=836351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=836351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}