By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The judgment of the inquiry in the R2.2 billion corruption case against the former Eskom CEO Matshela Koko and 18 others has been reserved by the Middleburg Specialised Crime Court in Mpumalanga.
Koko and 18 co-accused applied for the case to be struck off the roll after numerous postponements.
The accused include former SA Local Government Association boss Thabo Mokwena, Koko, his wife, Mosima Koko, and Koko’s stepdaughters, Koketso Aren and Thato Choma, Eskom’s project director at Kusile, Hlupheka Sithole, lawyer Johannes Coetzee, Koko associate Watson Seswai, and German nationals Markus Bruegmann and Sunil Vip. Last month, Lese’tsa Mutchinya was added as accused number 18.
Magistrate Stanley Jacobs called the investigating officer to the stand to clarify specific aspects of the case before allowing the defence to cross-examine the officer.
Advocate Brad Osborne representing Matshela Koko, his wife and two step-daughters has told the court that the bank accounts of his clients have been terminated by banking institutions.
Osborne said this has not only had an impact on the Koko family but also on their businesses and over 100 employees.
Koko and his co-accused say the state arrested them prematurely. They claim that the state is not ready for trial.
The investigating officer admitted in court that the investigation is yet to be completed. He also told the court that three of the accused are currently abroad. He said there is no extradition application in place to have them brought back to the country.
However, he said an Interpol red notice has been issued for two of them, Vip and Bruegmann who are in Germany. The third one Gopal Kambi is in the UK.
“As we know the Germans are not inclined to extradite their citizens. We were in the process of issuing a red notice in the Interpol.”
The case stems from allegations of corruption in a R2.2-billion control and instrumentation tender at Kusile, which was won by ZAABB, the Swedish-Swiss multinational ABB’s South African division.
Among the outstanding investigation is the forensic and data reports. The matter has been postponed to the 21st of November for judgment.