NPA’s New Investigating Directorate Brings First Case To Court

CAPE TOWN – The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) new Investigating Directorate on Thursday brought its first suspects before the courts on charges of graft related to the construction of the Kusile Power Station amounting to more than R700 million.

President Cyril Ramaphosa set up the directorate earlier this year to focus specifically on corruption and state capture cases.

The directorate has existed for less than a year.

With power generation capacity under constant pressure, it was alleged graft at the problem-plagued Kusile Power Station that the unit focussed on.

The Hawks nabbed two former Eskom senior executives Abram Masango and France Hlakudi, and two high ranking executives from a private company, Tubular Construction.

Masango and Hlakudi both left Eskom amid claims of kickbacks linked to contracts at Kusile.

Masango’s name also reportedly featured in an investigation into corruption and fraud at the utility.

The two men and their two alleged accomplices were granted bail on Thursday of R300,000 each.

They’ll be back in court next May.