Parliament must intervene in Hitachi debacle

The DA will be writing to the chairperson of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) requesting him to urgently lead an investigation into all Hitachi Power Africa and government contracts and deals in the last five years. 

The recent revelation that Chancellor House - the ANC's business wing which partially owns Hitachi - has opted to sell its shares in Hitachi Power Africa for an "undisclosed amount", has made this a matter of urgency and is very questionable. 

This is because Hitachi is the company that was not only awarded the contracts of R38 billion to install boilers at the Medupi and Kusile power stations. But those projects have been delayed because of many mistakes and bungles by contractors, including Hitachi itself. Medupi is not yet even close to being complete, and Kusile has only just begun. 

In the wake of the delays at Medupi, the DA made efforts to establish the cause for the delays. All efforts to obtain such information however have subsequently been shut down at every turn.

For years the DA has been saying that there is a clear conflict of interest and corruption for President Jacob Zuma's ANC to be making money off government contracts. That is corruption, plain and simple.

It is simply unacceptable that the ANC is allowed to dubiously award itself a R38 billion contract, make a mess of the project at Medupi - putting South Africa's energy supply at risk - and then deciding to cash in whenever it pleases, all at the cost of millions of people. 

If Parliament is determined to represent its people and ensure transparency in public contracts, Chairperson Godi must urgently call on Minister Gigaba to bring all contracts between Hitachi and the government in the last five years before the committee. SCOPA must ensure this happens without delay. 

I will, alongside the DA representative on SCOPA, Dion George ensure that Chairperson Godi does not ignore our calls for Hitachi to be brought to account without fail. 

This is not a good story for the people of South Africa, and the truth must be made known. 

Statement issued by Natasha Michael MP, DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises, March 3 2014

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