Switch off wasteful expenditure

The numbers are more shocking than we thought [View this email in your browser]( February 4, 2021 [Mail & Guardian]( [Mail & Guardian]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( Hi there, Towards the end of 2019, Thanduxolo Jika reported that [Eskom had wasted a phenomenal R300-million on building flats]( for workers that would go unused at the Kusile power station. Our photo editor Paul Botes captured the post-apocalyptic scene — a vast project that had been completely abandoned. The project was deserted and the state-owned entity has allegedly spent more than R1-billion to date on renting accommodation for the same employees it had planned to house in the 336 units in the Wilge Residential Development project. Eskom, which at the time had a debt of R440-billion, has been struggling to keep the lights on over the past few years. The ongoing construction of Kusile has contributed to its financial woes — estimated to be at least R161-billion at the time. We would like to apologise for getting this wrong. It wasn’t 300-million. It was R800-million. This emerged during a meeting of parliament’s public accounts watchdog Scopa, as the auditor-general tried to explain Eskom’s fruitless and wasteful expenditure. To top it off, Eskom also [lost R5-million worth of furniture]( meant for the housing development. On Wednesday, nine years later, MPs were told that although R840-million was spent, the project remains incomplete and units are uninhabitable. Back in October 2019, Eskom admitted that the Wilge project is fruitless and wasteful expenditure. It said it was investigating allegations of corruption after an escalation in the costs of the contract, which began at R258-million in 2012. This is a movie we have seen plenty of times before and the genre — characterised by wastage and incompetence — is growing awfully tiresome. As Chris Gilili reports, fellow beleaguered state enterprise [SAA is set to receive its own R10.5-billion bailout](. Announced by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni last year, the state enterprises department confirmed on Wednesday that the balance of the funding is due to be paid soon. While briefing parliament on Wednesday about the effects Covid-19 had on state-owned enterprises (SOEs) during 2020, acting public enterprises director general Kgathatso Tlhakudi said, “We are in a very difficult space as a result of Covid-19.” There is more to it than that. It is not as a result of Covid that the three hardest-hit SOEs — Transnet, Eskom and SA Express — are foundering. The crisis of corruption has us teetering on the precipice of bankruptcy, with countless shameless thefts from the public purse. In the same week we reported on Wilge, more than 5 500 Eskom employees were flagged by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) for, among other issues, not declaring their financial interests and doing business with the entity. More than 130 employees did business with Eskom, to the tune of R6-billion. About R44‑million in kickbacks connected to the Kusile power station, the SIU said, were paid to four Eskom officials. All these brain-meltingly huge numbers can be confusing, but the fact is corruption kills. What could that money have been spent on instead? But, true to form, Eskom will raise the price of electricity and economically depressed South Africans, already hobbled by the pandemic, will pay for these sins. Until tomorrow, Kiri Rupiah & Luke Feltham [Subscribe now]( Enjoy The Ampersand? Share it with your friends [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( [Share]( [Share]( Copyright © 2021 Mail & Guardian Media LTD, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive communications from the Mail & Guardian either at our website or by taking out a print subscription. Our mailing address is: Mail & Guardian Media LTD 25 Owl St BraamfonteinJohannesburg, Gauteng 2001 South Africa [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences or unsubscribe here.]( This email was sent to {EMAIL} [why did I get this?]( [unsubscribe from this list]( [update subscription preferences]( Mail & Guardian Media LTD · 25 Owl St · Braamfontein · Johannesburg, Gauteng 2001 · South Africa