EOH Holdings CEO Stephen van Coller will hold a media conference on Tuesday morning at which he is expected to publish the findings of an ENSafrica investigation into alleged corruption in the group’s public sector contracts.
The media conference, scheduled for 9am, comes just hours after EOH announced the resignations, with immediate effect, of two of its long-serving top executives, Zunaid Mayet and Rob Godlonton. Van Coller said the executives were not implicated in the ENSafrica report.
Mayet, a former CEO of EOH, was most recently CEO of its Nextec business; Godlonton headed its ICT business. Non-executive director Pumeza Bam — previously an executive director — also resigned.
EOH said earlier this month that it intends publishing the findings of the wide-ranging ENSafrica investigation. “Relevant findings and associated actions” flowing from the report will be published, it said.
The ENSafrica probe followed the publication of a series of investigative articles by TechCentral into alleged malfeasance surrounding a department of defence contract involving the sale of Microsoft software licences. A whistle-blower reported the matter to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act last year.
TechCentral reported in February that Microsoft terminated longstanding partner agreements with EOH after the SEC complaint was filed. The whistle-blower lodged the complaint with the SEC at the end of November 2018 under the tough anti-graft legislation.
Microsoft allegations
The allegations centre on a contract, worth R120-million, awarded by the department of defence in 2016 to the EOH subsidiary, EOH Mthombo.
The whistle-blower in the department of defence case claimed the department overpaid EOH Mthombo to the tune of millions of dollars for Microsoft software licences.
The whistle-blower alleged that Microsoft was “complicit” in allowing EOH Mthombo to engage in a “corrupt” licensing transaction with the department.
EOH CEO Stephen van Coller, who joined the group last year from MTN Group, contracted ENSafrica in February to review all licensing contracts in the past five years with all public sector entities. It was instructed to start with the Microsoft licensing contracts, Van Coller told TechCentral at the time.
The group has since moved to improve corporate governance, including appointing new directors to its board. — (c) 2019 NewsCentral Media
