The sentencing comes after the pair, Barnard Moraka and Victor Vilosi Tshabalala, were found guilty of 53 counts of fraud and theft that cost Eskom R35 million. The pair were immediately taken into custody on Tuesday to begin their sentence. The court also ordered that both thieves forfeit their properties to the state. The properties were placed under a preservation order in November 2021 and will now be sold, with the proceeds from the sale going directly to Eskom.
The thieves’ initial arrest in October 2019 was a direct result of an investigation initiated by Eskom’s audit and forensics department. Eskom CEO André de Ruyter welcomed the sentences as a milestone in the utility’s efforts to weed out corruption within its ranks. “What is most pleasing about this judgement is that the taxpayers will recover some of the stolen funds through the sale of the ill-gotten property belonging to the convicts,” De Ruyter said. “While the sums involved in this particular case are relatively modest, the conviction and sentencing of these criminals should send a strong message to all Eskom employees that corrupt elements have no place in the organisation.”
The court found that the pair had stolen just under R35 million from Eskom in a corruption scam between January 2016 and September 2018. It was perpetrated by creating fake invoices and payments for services not rendered to Meagra Transportation, a company owned by Tshabalala. Moraka was convicted for fraudulently creating 53 invoices and then paying Meagra Transportation. The proceeds of the crime were squandered on expensive overseas travel — including holiday trips to places like Disneyland in the US and France — and buying luxury cars and other properties.
In his sentencing, magistrate Emmanuel Magampa said the pair were motivated by greed and that he had no choice but to impose the guaranteed 20 years imprisonment for the convictions. He added the crime of fraud at state-owned companies drained the country’s resources through the billions in cash bailouts that the government must keep offering to struggling parastatals. “As an Eskom employee, Moraka was in a position of trust, which placed in him the duty not only to be vigilant and diligent in dealing with Eskom’s resources but also to be very protective and to jealously safeguard against theft,” said Magampa.
De Ruyter added that this was only one of many corruption cases involving staff Eskom was pursuing. The sentencing follows a warrant of arrest for former Eskom executive France Hlakudi, who failed to appear in the same court on corruption charges. Hlakudi, fellow former Eskom executive Abram Masango, businessman Maphoko Kgomoeswana, Tubular Construction’s chief executive Antonio Trindade, and seven companies are accused of defrauding the state power utility of hundreds of millions of rands. That includes R745 million involving projects at the troubled Kusile power plant.
