Appearing before Parliament’s finance watchdog, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) SIU head Advocate Mothibi confirmed they were in possession of the report.
Cape Town - The Special Investigation Unit (SIU) is combing through 1 482 pages of the infamous report into corruption at Eskom, which parliament has been pushing to get its hands on.
The report details findings of the R50 million privately funded intelligence operation at Eskom by its former CEO Andre de Ruyter, dubbed “Project Ostridge”. It allegedly links senior politicians to corruption and looting at the entity.
Last year, without the board’s approval, De Ruyter commissioned the probe, which was conducted by George Fivaz Forensic and Risk (GFFR), a firm owned by apartheid police commissioner George Fivaz.
Appearing before Parliament’s finance watchdog, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) SIU head Adv. Lekgoa Mothibi confirmed they were in possession of the report.
“We reached out to George Fifaz Forensics and Risk Company who conducted the investigation.
“I can confirm that the SIU has obtained this report.
“At last count, we were counting 1482 pages consisting of about 13 sub-reports. We are currently going through it, subjecting it to the SIU methodology and protocols.
The report will of course inform further investigations and referrals based on the outcomes. We are aware we have to deal with this report as urgently as possible and speedily to determine a course of action,” he said.
He added that their findings could require further investigation by authorities.
Meanwhile, Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola cited safety concerns as the reason why senior police officer, Brigadier Jap Burger did not appear before the committee on Wednesday.
“I did engage Brigadier Burger around security. There are processes we are busy with. His issue is not security between Pretoria and Cape Town. His issue is his appearance here. That’s why I asked if it was possible for him to appear on camera, but the message was no he must come and state his matter here.
“(The) Main issue is that I can’t bring him here and shield him from the public; only the committee can do that. He did give me feedback that he met Mr De Ruyter. He (De Ruyter) gave information but he did not give him the Fivaz report, he was given information and that he took to one of the investigating bodies he was part of and it’s been taken care of.”
He added that the police were “not afraid to tackle Eskom.”
MP Bheki Hadebe said a verbal report was not good enough.
“We want to move. Let’s offer Brigadier (Burger) what he prefers, (so we can) deal with the issue and get to the bottom of it. All we want is to pursue those contributing to South Africa being in the dark and misappropriated taxpayer money,” he said.
Cape Times