• The home and luxury vehicles of Duduzile Moyo are being auctioned off to recover funds she allegedly pilfered from Eskom.
• The former Eskom official reportedly received as much as R24 million in kickbacks.
• The official’s pension benefits were also frozen in 2022.

Auctions can be a good way to find a bargain or the assets of a former Eskom official who allegedly received as much as R24 million in kickbacks.

That is the fate of Duduzile Moyo who is seeing her assets including her home and vehicles auctioned off by the Special Investigating Unit in a bid to recover funds for Eskom that were lost to corruption.

“She had allegedly received almost R25 million from an Eskom vendor, Tamukelo Business Enterprise, which was appointed to transport raw materials and water from Kendal Power Stations to Kusile Power Station. In her position as Eskom Contracts Manager, Moyo signed 23 interim payment certificates in respect of Tamukelo’s services for the period December 2011 to July 2014, totalling approximately R138 million,” the SIU reports.

“Furthermore, the SIU probe revealed that Tamukelo and its representatives paid entities linked or associated with Moyo while she negotiated and managed Eskom’s contract with Tamukelo. Moyo’s modus operandi was to create structures of entities owned by members of her family and friends to receive these funds,” the investigation unit added.

The SIU says that Moyo’s interest was conflicted given that she received funds while acting as a middle manager. Her and her team also presented the negotiation strategy to Eskom’s tender and procurement strategy. The SIU reports that Moyo deceived the utility and repeatedly made fraudulent misrepresentations by declaring that she had no conflict of interest.

Aside from her house and luxury cars being auctioned off, Moyo’s pension benefits were frozen in September 2022.

“This forfeiture order is part of implementing the National Anti-Corruption Strategy, which sees law enforcement agencies working together to eradicate corruption in South Africa,” the SIU concluded.

Whether the SIU will be able to recover the funds Moyo pilfered from Eskom is unclear at this stage but it’s sure to send a message to those who ate while Eskom fell into an abyss.

While the utility has made improvements, South Africans still live with the fear that loadshedding will return at any moment and its folks like Moyo we have to thank for that.

[Image – Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay]