- News24 revealed that an investigation was launched to verify allegations that a R30 million donation was made to the DD Mabuza Foundation.
- The DA says it will ask Mabuza about the report in Parliament.
- General Electric and the foundation say the donation was never paid.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it will confront Deputy President David Mabuza in Parliament regarding reports that a foundation registered in his name allegedly received millions of rands while he was still the Mpumalanga premier.
News24 revealed on Monday that a multi-disciplinary investigation by law enforcement agencies in South Africa and the US was probing the "strategic donation" of R30 million by the American multinational, General Electric (GE), through Eskom to a foundation registered in Mabuza's name.
Mabuza was Mpumalanga premier at the time.
Reacting to the report, DA MP Ghaleb Cachalia said:
Email correspondence, seen by News24, revealed that the Serious Economic Offences Unit, a division of the Hawks, initiated the probe last year after seeing two letters written by Sithole in September 2016.
Sithole was project director at Kusile and, in the letters, thanked GE for pledging money. He also asked the Mabuza Foundation how it wanted Eskom to transfer the money.
Cachalia said, while the country suffered blow after blow from sustained power cuts and was under threats of loadshedding, "fat cats in the ANC and at the parastatal, like Mabuza, felt no shame in bringing the power utility to its knees by looting billions".
"Kusile has still not been fully completed and poor performance at the station again led to a recent bout of loadshedding. Moreover, Kusile is far from the only power plant that has suffered from this large-scale corruption at Eskom.
"The DA will request confirmation from Mabuza in Parliament of his complicity in this payoff."
Mabuza's spokesperson, Matshepo Seedat, denied the deputy president received the letter from Sithole, while a GE spokesperson also denied the donation was made to the foundation.
The Eskom Files is an exposé reported by News24's investigative journalists, Sipho Masondo, Kyle Cowan and Azarrah Karrim. The investigation is brought to you in partnership with the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.