The national electricity company Eskom continues to collect funds from companies suspected of corruption and irregular payments. Latest profit: EUR 85 million will be paid by the Zurich engineering group ABB. Eskom has become one of the symbols of corruption during the Jacob Zuma presidency, and hijackings in connection with the Gupta family have brought the company to its knees. Now the South African authorities intend to completely restore the stolen money.
as reported from Johannesburg, Claire Bargelès
The payment from ABB, the largest since the investigation of the South African Special Investigation Unit (SIU) began, relates to a contract won in 2015. The engineering group had been named the Kusile coal-fired power plant, a mega-project launched more than ten years ago. This facility is still not finished today and has cost much more than estimates.
The Zurich Group preferred to put an end to the case by cooperating with the Investigation Unit on its own initiative and by accepting this agreement. According to the government, the company should complete its work on the Kusile project to avoid further delays.
ABB is not the only company to have to repay money due to corruption in South Africa: For example, the consulting firm McKinsey announced this week that it will donate 35 million euros to two other public companies. And according to the current director of Eskom, this is just the beginning of a long series, as he now intends to recover money from other companies and the Gupta family.
In total, the government estimates that more than 27 billion euros have been stolen from the state under President Jacob Zuma.
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