"Maaka": Eskom Debunks Claims R4 Billion Was Accidentally Paid to a Supplier, South Africans Are Not Buying It

• A social media post alleges that Eskom has made the same mistake as NSFAS by accidentally overpaying someone
• The post went on to accuse Eskom of not taking any action to try to recover the R4 billion that was allegedly mistakenly paid to a supplier
• Eskom has now distanced itself from the allegations, however, South Africans are not convinced that the parastatal is without guilt

JOHANNESBURG - Since the conviction of Sibongile Mani for theft of the money she spent after NSFAS accidentally paid R14 million into her bank account, a social media post has been making the rounds claiming that the same thing happened at Eskom.

The post in question seems to have been written by someone who goes by the alias Bass Kruger. Kruger alleges that Eskom made the same mistake as NSFAS and accidentally paid R4 billion to coal supplier Quinton van der Burgh.

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Unlike Mani, Eskom allegedly did not pursue any legal action to retrieve the funds and van der Burgh bore no consequences. Eskom has come out to refute the claims made in Kruger's post.

In a Twitter post, Eskom denied the allegations and stated that no one was ever accidentally paid R4 billion.

The post reads:

"Eskom would like to distance itself from the allegations contained in the tweet. As previously addressed, there was never any R4 billion paid “by mistake” to anyone. The CEO has never made the comment as alleged in this tweet."

Where do the allegations stem from?

According to TimesLIVE, the allegations seem to date back to 2020, when de Ruyter was called to answer questions about R5 billion that was paid to a supplier during a presentation to parliament’s appropriations committee.

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In that presentation, de Ruyter stated that the state-owned enterprise did not accidentally pay that amount to any of its suppliers, however, Eskom noted that at least seven suppliers were overcharging for their services.

At the time, De Ruyter stated that Eskom was in the middle of negotiations with the suppliers about the pricing structures.

In relation to accidental payments of funds, De Ruyter told the commission that Eskom has an obligation to get back any money that has been accidentally paid to anyone.

South Africans are not buying Eskom's denial

Taking to the comment section, South Africans are convinced that Eskom is somehow guilty of overpaying suppliers. Some people also think that Eskom executives are guilty of using companies they have ties to as suppliers.

Here are some comments:

@success_thabang said:

"Maaka. There is R150b paid to companies owned by people who are close to the CEO De Ruyter."

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@ComradeStina said:

"You are reported to have said you "accidentally" overpaid 4 suppliers by R4bn in total. It's very important to mention that whilst "distancing" yourself. You are creating the false impression of an organisation that knows what it's doing."

@nahtarabp said:

"South Africans truly believe anything they read on Facebook or Twitter."

@JShimzo said:

"You can distance yourself from the allegations, but what did Eskom do to recover the money?"

@DumileDlamini4 said:

"So, the only time you're gonna respond is when you feel people are lying about you?"

WSU student found guilty of stealing R818k in NSFAS funds

Briefly News previously reported that the Walter Sisulu University (WSU) student at the centre of the R14 million National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) debacle was found guilty of theft in the East London Regional Court.

In 2017, the student financial aid scheme mistakenly deposited the large sum of money into Sibongile Mani's account, of which she spent close to R820 000 in just over 70 days, EWN reported.

On Monday, 6 February, the court disregarded the former accounting student's explanation that she did not intend to deny NSFAS its money, among the evidence presented by the state, having been eligible to receive a fixed monthly food allowance of R1 400.

Source: Briefly News