In 2015, with Eskom once again in crisis, the board hired international law firm Dentons to conduct an investigation into major issues at the power utility.
Load shedding, financial challenges, the high cost of primary energy, and delays at Medupi and Kusile were all under investigation.
The investigation was supposed to last 12 months, but after barely two months Eskom’s board pulled the plug, claiming Dentons had given enough to start implementing the necessary changes.
The report, which cost Eskom R20-million, was then locked in a safe.
In 2015, The amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism asked for a copy of the report under a Promotion of Access to Information. Eskom refused.
Then, last week, Eskom did an about-turn, saying it would release a redacted version.
Speculation is rife that Eskom decided on the release only after realising that the Financial Mail was in possession of far more scathing draft versions of the report.
But even Eskom’s sanitised version contains damning evidence of mismanagement, corruption and incompetence.
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