Former Eskom CEO Anoj Singh was going to sign a term sheet binding the power utility to the conditions of a controversial multibillion rand loan from Huarong Energy regardless of internal reservations, the StateCaptureInquiry heard on Friday.
According to Pillay, Singh said he viewed the term sheet as non-binding, but Eskom’s treasury team as well as the legal team handling the transaction warned him that certain conditions — including an almost R200-million commitment fee — were binding.
“There was an element of self-preservation,” Pillay told the commission, recounting how Singh made it clear he would get rid of people who stood in his way.During his testimony, Pillay emphasised that he was uncomfortable with steps being taken seemingly to push through the deal prior to Eskom’s internal processes being followed.
The Huarong loan has been stalked by controversy since it emerged that then interim Eskom chief executive Sean Maritz was implicated in a kickback scandal in which he was alleged to have signed off a R400-million payment from Eskom to an unknown Hong Kong bank account. Maritz was suspended in January 2018 and resigned a month later.
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