The Democratic Alliance on Tuesday called for the removal of Eskom board chairman Zola Tsotsi as head of an inquiry into the utility’s performance, as announced by public enterprises minister Lynne Brown last week.
Brown should appoint an independent body to carry out the investigation, DA MP Natasha Mazzone said in a statement.
Last week, Brown suspended four senior Eskom executives, including its CEO Tshediso Matona.
Tsotsi said at the time that the four had been asked to step aside to ensure the inquiry — which would focus on the poor performance of Eskom’s power stations, delays in bringing in the new Medupi station, as well as the utility’s cash flow problems — was transparent and uninhibited.
“This is an honest, down-to-earth inquiry to establish facts,” he said.
Mazzone said her party had noted reports that Tsotsi had been granted full powers to determine the terms of reference, the contracting of investigators, and to oversee the progress of the investigation.
“The DA has long held that executive influence opens up the potential for abuse. However, in this case minister Brown must not exert undue political influence, but instead must act in terms of the law and her mandate by appointing an independent body to carry out this investigation.
“If there is to be any semblance of independence, fairness, and accountability, Mr Tsotsi cannot be the head of an inquiry tasked with investigating his own potential culpability in the sheer collapse of Eskom.”
She said having Tsotsi head the inquiry was a clear conflict of interest.
“If Mr Tsotsi is allowed to remain the head of the inquiry its integrity is in question prior to it even beginning the investigation.”
Mazzone said she would write to Brown requesting the minister to remove Tsotsi as inquiry head. — Sapa