State Capture: Anoj Singh a no show after wife gives birth

Former Eskom Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Anoj Singh was expected to appear before the State Capture Commission on Wednesday, 03 March 2021, however his legal team asked that he be excused from taking the stand as his wife had given birth.

He was scheduled to testify over Eskom-related matters, after former CEO Brian Molefe also gave his testimony.

Representing Singh, Anneline van den Heever said his wife had had an emergency caesarean section procedure to deliver their baby and was ordered at least 10 days of bed rest.

“So it’s a situation where unfortunately the client needs to take care of the newborn and a number of other things. So he can’t be here today as much as he wanted to be. So our request to you is that you accept that the content and the annexures will be read,” van den Heever told the proceedings chairperson, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.

Zondo excuses Anoj Singh from testifying at State Capture Commission

Raymond Zondo then accepted her explanation as to why her client could not make it.

“Information that existed prior to the operation of the wife and I wasn’t sure that that would have provided a valid excuse but the information you have given me satisfies me, so Mr Anoj Singh is therefore excused from appearance,” he said.

However van den Heever did indicate to Zondo that Anoj Singh would definitely make an appearance in the coming week, to give evidence related to Transnet, while testimony on Eskom’s affairs will be scheduled for a later date.

Singh had initially been set to appear in January 2021, however he didn’t pitch – which made Zondo very upset. Van den Heever claimed Singh needed more time to file a comprehensive affidavit.

Singh was Eskom’s CFO from 2015 to 2016. In 2020, the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) stripped him of his CA status after finding him to have been grossly negligent and dishonest. This was in relation to Transnet’s pricey locomotive deal and large contracts awarded by Eskom.

He, along with other people including Brian Molefe and Matshela Koko, are accused of having helped the controversial Gupta family to loot the troubled power utility.