Matshela Koko’s efforts to stay ahead of the National Prosecuting Authority are collected in a bulging, red lever-arch file that contains dozens of documents linked to the R2.2bn fraud, corruption and money laundering case against him.
The former Eskom interim CEO’s dossier includes, among other items, the 130-page draft charge sheet, search and seizure warrants and other documents from Eskom and the Swiss technology company ABB.
The NPA accuses Koko of being the puppet master behind the R2.2bn contracts for the installation of control instrumentation at Kusile power station that benefited ABB and its subcontractor, Impulse, where Koko’s stepdaughter Koketso Aren (formerly Choma) was a nonexecutive director.
The case against Koko was struck off the roll this week in the Middelburg magistrate’s court due to lengthy delays in the investigation, but the NPA plans to re-enroll it. It has yet to disclose the evidence it will rely on, but Koko is confident the charges will eventually disappear for good.
“I'm not even worried about the disclosures, I want to go to trial... South Africa is not ready for my acquittal or discharge from this case,” he told the Sunday Times. The interview, initially set for 30 minutes, lasted more than four hours.
“I hope you have more than the 30 minutes we agreed about because I have a lot I want to share,” Koko said as the interview got under way, placing the lever-arch file on the desk before him.
He said he was not losing any sleep over the Investigating Directorate’s prosecution plans.
Even if the NPA could be given 100 years, acting in good faith, it will not be able to overcome the issues they have now as the evidence will never change
“Was the NPA not confident after arresting me last year? Even if the NPA could be given 100 years, acting in good faith, it will not be able to overcome the issues they have now as the evidence will never change.”
ABB has already acknowledged liability and agreed to pay R2.5bn in punitive reparations to South Africa. It also promised to work with the NPA to ensure accountability for crimes allegedly committed by its staff, and to share any evidence relevant to the Koko case.
The R2.5bn in reparations is over and above a R1.6bn penalty ABB paid Eskom in 2020 for overcharging the power utility in the Kusile contract.
In 2018, the Sunday Times reported that Impulse raked in about R1bn in contracts from Eskom after Aren joined it in 2016.
Koko said the delays in the case were largely caused by the NPA struggling to find evidence to support the charges against him. “In time the NPA fight will collapse,” he said.
Asked about Aren having benefited from Eskom contracts, Koko said the matter had been investigated during his tenure at Eskom and a tribunal had cleared him.
“Anyone who uses their next of kin to unlawfully benefit must die in jail. The NPA is trying to get the second bite at it while the labour court had stated that I was charged by Eskom about this and was vindicated,” he said.
“If indeed I was a puppet master then all these Eskom people that signed on this deal must have gotten orders from me, and they need to submit affidavits that support that allegation.”
Koko said the NPA had rushed into charging him to try to justify his “unlawful firing” from Eskom in 2018, which followed a cabinet decision. Investigators had approached some of his co-accused and asked them to “give us something about Koko”, he said.
“There’s no evidence that I created a justification for the contract to be awarded to ABB but they [the NPA] were looking for Matshela, the enemy,” he said.
ID spokesperson Sindisiwe Seboka said the unit was confident of success once the matter was re-enrolled.
“The ID is able to prosecute state capture matters. These investigations are, however, complex and complicated, spanning a long period of time, with various individuals and entities involved and often involving foreign jurisdictions,” she said.
Asked about rising sceptism that the NPA can secure convictions in state capture cases, Seboka said the ID would restore public trust through successful prosecutions.
The ID would not make any pronouncements on the Koko case while it “uses this time to meticulously prepare for the re-enrollment”.
Koko is involved in a related fight in the high court in Johannesburg, where he is seeking to review the Zondo commission’s findings that he was among the executives who played a pivotal role in the capture of Eskom and channelled contracts worth billions towards the Guptas and their associates.
Koko said this past year had been the worst period of his life, and that his arrest had scuppered two big deals that he had been on the verge of clinching.
After he was arrested, banks had closed accounts held by some of his family members. “My bank account was closed back in 2019. I just got a call that said, ‘Come fetch your money, we can’t have an account with you.’”
As a result he can only use cash, not cards, which he said was embarrassing when a restaurant refused to accept cash for amounts over a certain limit. When he did engineering projects he had to insist on being paid in cash, which “in itself reinforces the narrative of criminality”.
Koko said he had no desire to return to Megawatt Park, though his record at Eskom — from 2015 to 2018 — was impeccable. “We did not burn diesel to generate power and, without Medupi, Ingula and Kusile, we did not have load-shedding.”
I do confirm that I don’t like him, in fact ‘don’t like’ doesn’t fully explain how I feel about him. I don’t like how he treated me at Eskom
He said he still helps Eskom engineers who approach him with their engineering challenges. “I am an engineer and there’s very few people who can do the job I do. I do a lot in the background, assisting different people to be able to pay my bills and lawyers,” he said.
He blamed President Cyril Ramaphosa for the ANC’s ills. “I do confirm that I don’t like him, in fact ‘don’t like’ doesn’t fully explain how I feel about him. I don’t like how he treated me at Eskom.”
While he was “very bitter” at the time he was fired, he says he has since moved on.
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