Matshela Koko Eskom board

Matshela Koko will appear in court on Thursday – Photo by Gallo Images / Mail & Guardian / Madelene Cronjé

‘Suzanne Daniels lied to you many times,’ Koko tells Zondo

The back and forth between former Eskom CEO Matshela Koko and former head of legal compliance Suzanne Daniels continues at the State Capture Commission

Matshela Koko Eskom board

Matshela Koko will appear in court on Thursday – Photo by Gallo Images / Mail & Guardian / Madelene Cronjé

Former Eskom Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Matshela Koko has told the State Capture Commission that the utility’s former head of legal compliance Suzanne Daniels was nothing but dishonest during her turn on the stand.

Koko appeared before the commission to give evidence related to dubious activity at Eskom. A prominent feature during his testimony was the mystery surrounding an email address which was privy to critical operational matters at the utility.

Koko maintains that Daniels had given the email address – infoportal@zoho.com, in order to engage former board chairperson Dr Ben Ngubane. When this was put to Suzanne Daniels during her last testimony in February 2021, she categorically denied giving him the email, as Koko had claimed.

Now in what appears to be a back and forth between the two – Koko is also sticking to his guns and has labelled Daniels as being dishonest.

“I have listened to the testimony of Ms Daniels and I have a lot to say but I will say very little. She has lied to you many times and I don’t think she knows what lies she’s told before,” Koko said.

The former Eskom CEO maintains he thought it was Ngubane who was behind the emails, as the information contained in them managed to reach him. This is contrary to what Daniels had said – that she suspected Gupta-linked businessman Salim Essa, to be the author of the emails. If Daniels’ suspicions are true, that means Essa had undue access to important operational matters at the utility.

State Capture: Suzanne Daniels and Matshela Koko – who’s lying?

Evidence leader advocate Pule Seleka then pointed out an inconsistency to Matshela Koko by making specific reference to an interview he did with Johannesburg-based radio station 702, in which he said it was Suzanne Daniels who was behind the mysterious email address.

In response, Koko said he wanted the full interview to be part of his submission and said a portion of the clip was meant to mislead the commission. Koko urged the commission’s chairperson, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, to listen to the interview to get the full picture.

Koko said it was the same interview where Daniels admitted to committing crime and further wanted Zondo that many witnesses who were appearing and had implicated him have ulterior motives.

Listen to the interview here