The abuse of South African state resources is now so blatant it takes something special to shock. But that’s precisely what Eskom has done through disclosure of a breathtaking deal with the crony capitalist Gupta family’s mothership Oakbay. Eskom admitted to Bloomberg it is advancing R578m to Oakbay to “secure” future supplies from the Guptas’ newly acquired Optimum Coal Mine. Not long ago, the very same Eskom levied a R2bn fine on the very same Optimum over a dispute on the quality of its delivered coal. But Optimum is now owned by the Guptas – and SA President Jacob Zuma’s son – who prized it away from multinational Glencore, Zuma’s interests in the “negotiations” advanced by a new mining minister, recently promoted from a provincial backwater. In another disgusting twist, shortly after his appointment another of Zuma’s cabinet members replaced all but one member of the Eskom board, installing Oakbay’s very own Mark Pamensky as a director. Oakbay now says it is confident an appeal against that R2bn fine will succeed. What a surprise. An even bigger one than the ability of South African Government officials to keep straight faces when engaging potential foreign investors. – Alec Hogg
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(Bloomberg) — South Africa’s electricity utility paid 578 million rand ($38.2 million) in advance for coal supplied by a Gupta family-controlled company to guarantee supplies for a power plant, the producer and an Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. executive said.
Tegeta Exploration & Resources Ltd., controlled by the Gupta family that’s associated with President Jacob Zuma, is supplying the utility’s Arnot coal-fired facility in the eastern Mpumalanga-province at an average price of 500 rand ($33) a metric ton for the fuel, Eskom said in a statement. That compared with 1,132 rand a ton Eskom was paying Exxaro Resources Ltd. in a 40-year agreement that wasn’t renewed when it ended last year, the power producer said. Tegeta is sourcing coal from the Optimum mine it bought from Glencore Plc after the Baar-based producer placed the operation under business rescue proceedings.
Eskom first asked Optimum to supply the Arnot plant in January, Oakbay Investments (Pty) Ltd., which owns Tegeta with Mabengela Investments, said in answers posted on its website. The mine delivered about 500,000 tons of coal to Arnot between January and April, it said. Optimum is delivering 250,000 tons to meet a current contract that runs through September and it may meet the requirement as early as the end of July, Oakbay said.
Oakbay said it received an advanced payment of 578 million rand for the deal.
Read also: Busted: Guptas gifted Zuma son his stake 3 weeks before stinky Optimum deal
“We told them that we were facing significant challenges due to the conditions around business rescue and the bank closures,” Oakbay said, after some South African financial institutions ended business with the company. “We then asked for a prepayment.”
‘Unsubstantiated Penalty’
Glencore put Optimum into bankruptcy protection after Eskom refused to amend an unprofitable coal-supply contract and penalized the producer with a 2-billion rand fine. It levied the penalty because the quality of coal Optimum delivered to the Hendrina plant didn’t meet the specifications of a supply contract.
Wonder if Mark Pamensky, chair of Eskom’s investment subcommittee & Oakbay director recused himself from R500m Tegeta prepayment decision?
— Chris Yelland (@chrisyelland) June 12, 2016
It was Glencore’s view that “the penalty cannot be substantiated” after contracting experts to look into the matter, Oakbay said. The mine’s business rescue practitioners will challenge the penalty in talks with Eskom, Oakbay said.
On Sunday, City Press newspaper reported Eskom is allowing Tegeta to divert Optimum coal from the Hendrina power plant, where it pays 174 rand a ton, to the Arnot facility, which is 50 kilometers away and where Eskom pays more for coal. The newspaper cited a mining-industry financier.
Eskom isn’t diverting coal from Hendrina to Arnot, it said in a statement yesterday.
Must Read: Named: Van Rooyen’s two Gupta “advisors” who almost hijacked SA Treasury
Long-Term Contract
The utility is evaluating proposals from companies that bid to be long-term suppliers to Arnot, and will announce its decision by September, Eskom said in an e-mailed response to questions.
“We did not apply when the tender was in the market last year,” Oakbay said. “However, we have since acquired Optimum and we are looking for growth from any and every source based on our strong production increases.” When the company bought Optimum, it was producing 400,000 tons a month and it’s increasing monthly output to 1 million tons by July, Oakbay said.
