The Democratic Alliance says it will submit an application in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) to gain access to tender documents which resulted in President Jacob Zuma’s energy adviser‚ Silas Zimu‚ receiving a R149 million contract from Eskom.
DA spokesperson on public enterprises Natasha Mazzone said the DA was deeply concerned at media reports on Sunday that seven months after Zimu’s appointment as Zuma’s adviser on energy‚ Cape Gate Marepha‚ a company at which he is a nonexecutive director‚ was awarded a contract to supply Eskom with wiring.
“It is shocking that either Zimu‚ as a political adviser to the President‚ failed to declare his interests‚ or that President Zuma thought it acceptable to keep an advisor who simultaneously profits from public spending in the energy sector.
“The DA will therefore also put in parliamentary questions to President Zuma on his knowledge of Zimu’s business interests‚ specifically which interests were declared to the President and which were not‚” said Mazzone.
She said the DA believed that Eskom must answer about Zimu’s direct conflict of interests and must do so by supplying the full documentary record of the tender decision.
“We will especially be interested to see to what extent Zimu’s association with the President was documented.”
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