A former senior engineer at Eskom has been arrested by the Hawks on suspicion of fraud, corruption and money laundering.
Felix Drangamandra/Garo Image
- The Hawks in Mpumalanga have arrested a former senior Eskom engineer on charges of fraud and corruption.
- The arrests arose from a Special Investigations Unit investigation that revealed that Mr. Nketeni Percy Ramal had failed to declare that his company was doing business with power companies.
- Ramal appeared in the Middleburg Special Offenses Court and was released on R10,000 bail.
The Hawks in Mpumalanga have arrested a former senior Eskom engineer on suspicion of fraud, corruption and money laundering.
Hawks spokesperson Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgodi said Nketeni Percy Ramal did not declare any conflicts of interest related to his company MXO Logistics CC, which had business with Eskom.
“It is alleged that in August 2022, the defendant was employed by Eskom as a senior field service technician.The defendant falsely informed Eskom that he did not do business with Eskom.”
“During the investigation, the SIU [Special Investigating Unit] It found that the defendant had failed to declare a conflict of interest to Eskom. [and] Apparently he was a shareholder in a company called MXO Logistics CC. [a] It’s a company that does business with Eskom,” Hawkes said.
The duplication was discovered in the declaration and tender documents submitted by MXO Logistics CC to Eskom.
“As a result, Eskom suffered an effective loss of R14,940,” Sekgodi said.
ALSO READ | Power play: R36m Eskom power theft syndicate members tried to bribe police officers, indictment reveals
Ramal appeared at the Middleburg Special Commercial Crimes Court and was granted bail of R10,000.
The case was adjourned to February 19th.
Mr Ramal's arrest follows that of another Eskom employee, Thandi Ruth Magagula, a security risk manager, who was arrested last Friday on charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering.
The two officers are Ms. Thandi Ruth Magagura, who is employed as Head of Safety Risk Management, and Ms. Nontutubo Surprise Maweli, who is employed as Maintenance Manager. Both men were employed at the Hendrina power station in Mpumalanga province.
— Special Investigations Unit (SIU) (@RSASIU) February 13, 2024
Mr Magagula was employed by Eskom from April 2013 to July 2015, and is also said to have been a director of a company called Montoza Engineering and Projects 9, which provided services to power utilities.
The matter was reported to the SIU, which found that Mr Magagula had failed to declare a conflict of interest with Eskom.
“The Hawks of Middelburg … found that the defendant falsely reported to Eskom in her tax returns and tender documents that she was doing business with Eskom while her company provided services to Eskom, and in fact It has been proven that it caused a loss of R58 and R888.76,” Mr Sekgodi said. .
The defendant appeared at Middelburg Magistrates Court where he was granted bail of R10,000.
The case was adjourned to March 26 in Middleburg Special Commercial Crimes Court.
Read | Eskom maintenance manager goes to court over R1 million lawsuit
Last week, News24 reported that Eskom manager Nontutubo Surprise Maweriri and his alleged accomplice Mokugawa Lekka Seula were charged with fraud, theft and money laundering for allegedly doing business with the power company. .
The two were granted bail of R50,000 each at Hendrina Magistrates Court.
Their companies, Ditari Funding and NKG Trading and Investment, are also named in the indictment.
Mr Sekgodi said an investigation had revealed that Mr Mweriri was a shareholder in NKG and Ditari, both companies had transactions with Eskom, and that the transactions had caused losses to the company of more than R1 million.
The defendant is scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
