Mabuza says in an email sent on 30th September 2015, Koko sent an email out to Essa which contained a letter written by then-board chair Ben Ngubane to former minister Lynne Brown discussing the suspension of advertising with the Sunday Times, City Press and Mail & Guardian.

Maleka asks Mabuza to now move onto the contents of the email, from the same email address, but on a different date - the 8th of August. 

Mabuza: "It's an email that was sent on the 8th of August from Matshela Koko...on the 8th of August at 22:20...the subject is 'online vending' and the attachment is 'online vending'." 

Maleka: "And the body of the email?" 

Mabuza: "The body of the email on (page) 493, is: 'We did not finish our discussion about this transaction'..." 

Mabuza explains: "So this is Matshela, saying to 'infoportal', which we have concluded is Mr Salim Essa and we will demonstrate how we arrive at that conclusion, he said they did not conclude their discussion about this transaction, and this is what is going to the board on the 18th of August." 

Mabuza: "So on the 8th of August, Mr Matshela Koko sends - our argument - to Mr Salim Essa a document on online vending that was discussed with Mr Salim Essa, as it would appear on this email, but that discussion about this transaction was not finished - to use his words - but this material is going to Mr Salim Essa 10 days before it's gonna go to go to the board." 

ICYMI: 

Matshela Koko: Eskom is broken, but it wasn't the Guptas – and bailouts won't fix it 

The Eskom story has been told many times by those who are eager to restructure, unbundle and ultimately privatise it through the independent power producers. It is no different to the hunter who tells the story of a lion.

The real Eskom story is narrated beautifully in a book called A Symphony of Power: The Eskom Story. The book was originated by Engineer Allen Morgan, a third generation Eskom guardian who became the Group Chief Executive of Eskom in 1994, the year that marked the end of apartheid in South Africa. At least on paper. 

It is a story of a world-class utility that was named the Power Company of the Year at the Financial Times Global Energy Awards in New York 2001, in recognition of providing the lowest-cost electricity, while making superior technical innovations, increasing transmission system reliability, and developing economical, efficient, and safe combustion of low-grade coal.

Mabuza: "Their intention was never to comply. Their intention was to create business opportunities for specific people, for a specific reason."

Maleka moves on to the next email, and asks Mabuza to read out an attachment with the heading "Approval conditions agreed between the acting CFO and the acting general group executive, GCT, on Friday 26 June 2015. Top engineers development programme".

Maleka asks for names to be put to the titles. 

Mabuza: "The acting CFO at this point is Mr Anoj Singh." 

Maleka: "And who was the acting GE at that time?" 

Mabuza: "The acting GE at the time is Mr Edwin Mabelane." 

Maleka confirms with Mabuza that Mabelane was one of the executives later suspended, but Mabuza clarifies that he was "not one of the four that were suspended in March".

Advocate Vincent Maleka asks Mabuza to confirm that the contents of the "controlled disclosure" document in question "looks at different cost elements of Eskom's operation, and suggests how those costs should be contained".

Mabuza: "I do confirm." 

Mabuza now reads from what appears to be an email from Koko's Eskom email address to what is alleged to be Salim Essa's email, with two PDFs attached, which according to Mabuza, are Eskom documents.

Mabuza tells Zondo he will recommend that Koko and others be summoned to the commission to answer for the body of evidence that the board has. Mabuza says this will also be part of the civil lawsuits and criminal charges instigated by the Eskom board.

Commission proceedings have commenced, with Jabu Mabuza still providing testimony.

ICYMI: 

EFF takes issue with Jabu Mabuza's 'conflict of interest' at Eskom 

The Economic Freedom Fighters said it wants new Eskom board chairperson Jabu Mabuza to step down following disclosures he made at the judicial commission of inquiry into state capture on Friday.

The EFF on Saturday said Mabuza disclosed a "serious conflict of interest" during his testimony that should have disqualified him from his position at the power utility.

Mabuza, who is currently chairing the new Eskom board tasked with ridding the state-owned entity of impropriety, told the commission on Friday that he had bought 6% of shares in Sphere Investment worth R26m.

He said that upon accepting the position of board chairperson in January 2018 he declared all his interests and resigned from future investment decisions at Sphere. The shares had also been put in a blind trust. 

ICYMI: 

SIU probes R139 billion rot at Medupi and Kusile - report 

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) is investigating the alleged theft of R139 billion from Eskom, related to the construction of the Medupi and Kusile power stations, the Sunday Times has reported.

This is reportedly part of a broader SIU investigation into the theft of about R170 billion from the power utility. 

The paper reported that the SIU is looking at 11 contractors as part of its investigation into the building of the two units. It is reportedly one of the biggest undertaken by the SIU yet, with the unit bringing in additional investigative capacity, including expert engineers.

The investigation began in June 2018 and also comprises other state authorities like the National Prosecuting Authority, the Asset Forfeiture Unit and the Hawks, the Sunday paper reported. 

ICYMI: 

#StateCaptureInquiry: 'We should have foreseen this' – Eskom board chair on load shedding 

Chair of the Eskom board Jabu Mabuza says that the new board appointed in January 2018 should have foreseen the issue of load shedding.

"This is not an excuse, but it is important to remember that the board was put in place to deal with issues Eskom was facing at the time," he told the commission of inquiry into allegations of state capture.

"What we are now having is not the problem we had at the time, maybe we should have foreseen it," Mabuza told the commission on Friday afternoon.

The chairperson of the new board tasked with cleaning up and addressing allegations of impropriety at the power utility following allegations of state capture was responding to the commission's evidence leader advocate Vincent Maleka, SC, on the question of whether the board had reflected on the primary causes of load shedding.