DA to protest outside ANC’s Chancellor House

The agreement by Hitachi to pay $19-million to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to settle charges of corrupt payments to ANC’s Chancellor House in order to secure Eskom tenders is prima facie evidence of the systematic corruption endemic to the ANC and its proxies.

On Thursday, 8 October, the DA will therefore be staging a mass rally outside Chancellor House Holdings in Sandton to protest against the flagrant abuse of public funds by the ANC, and the devastating cost it is having on South Africa.

The ANC’s investment wing, Chancellor House, has long been accused of effectively laundering money for the governing party. The Hitachi scandal again demonstrates how the ANC is enriching itself at the expense of ordinary South Africans.

The R38.5 billion contract to construct boilers at Medupi and Kusile was awarded to Hitachi in 2007, shortly after Chancellor House purchased a 25% stake in the mega-company for only R1 million. The deal would see Chancellor House, and by extension the ANC, profit from any Eskom tenders.

In the complaint against Hitachi, the SEC highlighted the intrinsic links between Eskom, Chancellor House and the ANC:

An administrator of the Chancellor House Trust was a member of the ANC’s National Executive Committee (NEC) from 2002 to 2007;

Then chairperson of Eskom, Valli Moosa, was also a member of the ANC NEC and co-owned a separate investment company with the chairperson of Chancellor House Trust;

An administrator of Chancellor House Trust was also a director of Eskom Enterprises, an Eskom subsidiary; and

Chancellor’s chairman was married to a family member of Eskom’s CEO.

In recognition of their success in being awarded the contract Hitachi subsequently paid Chancellor House $6 million in dividends and barely-disguised kickbacks labelled “success fees” and “consultation fees.”

Since being awarded the Medupi tender, however, Hitachi has failed to meet a number of contractual obligations that have pushed the project R60 billion over budget and left it 20 months behind schedule. The result of this has been prolonged load-shedding that has cost the economy billions and rendered millions jobless.

Corruption is never a victimless crime, and the Hitachi scandal clearly illustrates this. We cannot allow the ANC to plunder the state while millions of South Africans are being denied basic services and opportunities to pursue a life of value. The DA will continue to lead the charge against corruption in pursuit of a society based on freedom, fairness and opportunity for all.

Issued by Graham Charters, Acting spokesperson to the DA Leader, 6 October 2015