Ngubane denies being 'Gupta middleman' at Eskom
Former Eskom board chairman Ben Ngubane has denied helping the Guptas to do business with the power utility.
On Tuesday, Ngubane returned to the commission of inquiry into state capture of inquiry for the third time.
The commission’s chair, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, said the evidence points to a scheme by the Guptas to get former board chairman Zola Tsotsi, former CEO Tshediso Matona and others removed from Eskom and replaced with Gupta-affiliates.
Ngubane, was appointed after the removal of Tsotsi in 2015, who told the commission the Guptas orchestrated his departure for failing to corporate with the demands of Tony Gupta.
Zondo: "These things didn't happen just out of the blue. What happened at Eskom was properly part of a plan or a certain agenda, so you having being chairperson after Mr Tsotsi, it is important you say what you are able to say, whether you think there is no basis for my view or if I should focus on something else?”
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Ngubane denied any knowledge of a scheme to capture Eskom.
"The minister suggested Brian Molefe and we said ‘excellent’ as we knew his history at the PIC. He took that organisation from an asset base of R1 billion to an asset base of R800 billion within five or seven years. He came and we saw the difference, the whole of South Africa knows we had no load shedding for 15 months after he came there," said Ngubane.
Evidence leader, Advocate Pule Seleka, said the email trail created a perception that Ngubane might have been the Guptas’ contact person at Eskom.
This is based on emails between Gupta associates Salim Essa and Nazeem Howa, which contained extensive insight and detail around internal operations of the power utility.
In one email, Essa sends a media statement regarding the departure of Zola Tsotsi from Eskom to Ngubane.
The statement was also sent to Salim Essa for approval.
"The face behind the email address info portal or businessman, it is most probably Salim Essa, seems to give credence to this proposition that the only person who would have succeeded in making Essa have inroads into the board is Mr. Ngubane because the emails are exchanged directly with him," said Seleka.