21 March 2023 | 11:28 PM

Read the Eskom report

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Key Takeaways

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.

Read the report.

The amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism produced this story. Like it? Bean amaB supporter and help us domore. Know more? Send us a tip-off.

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INVESTIGATOR:

Aisha Abdool Karim

Aisha is a freelance science and health reporter. She is joining the amaB team to work on a project about water and sanitation. Aisha’s passion for long-form narrative and investigative journalism was sparked while doing her master’s degree at Columbia University in New York. After graduating in 2018, she returned to South Africa and began working as a general beat reporter for the Daily Maverick. Aisha joined the Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism in 2020 to focus on science reporting. During her time there, she covered the COVID-19 pandemic extensively — from fact-checking harmful medical misinformation to unpacking the science behind vaccine development. Aisha’s special interests include analysing health systems and in-depth coverage of public health issues and infectious diseases. She also loves spreadsheets and digging through data.