Johannesburg — Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille met with US ambassador Donald Gips in Pretoria yesterday to lobby against the World Bank granting an unconditional loan to Eskom to finance its infrastructure expansion programme.
Her objection centred on the grounds that providing the loan would aid and abet corruption because of the unacceptable involvement of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) in a major supply contract for boilers for Eskom's Medupi power station.
The World Bank is scheduled to decide today whether to grant the 3,75bn loan.
Zille also met UK High Commissioner Nicola Brewer and held a teleconference with the World Bank's country director in SA, Ruth Kagia, and two other bank officials on Tuesday night.
The DA has written to the World Bank urging that it refuse to grant the loan unless the ANC's investment arm, Chancellor House, withdraws not only from the Hitachi consortium, which won a R38,5bn contract to supply boilers to Medupi, but from all other supply contracts and subcontracts as well.
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Hitachi Africa is 25% owned by Chancellor House, which would therefore have a R5,8bn stake in the deal and make an estimated profit of as much as R1bn.
Zille was worried by the logic of World Bank officials' argument that the loan would not be funding the contract in which Chancellor House was involved.
This was "irrelevant" because funding the infrastructure programme in its entirety would allow parts of it to proceed. While she supported the need for investment in electricity infrastructure, Zille emphasised in her meetings that the World Bank should have no part in a deal that would benefit a political party.
Were it to do so it would be contravening its own protocols, she said.
Her intense lobbying stemmed from the belief that an unconditional World Bank loan would have "serious implications for the health of our democracy" and strengthen the development of a corrupt and criminal state.
The benefit derived by the ANC would be enough to fund "its election campaigns and the lifestyles of its leaders for years to come", she said.
It would be impossible for opposition parties to compete fairly and would entrench the ANC's single-party dominance.
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe yesterday dismissed the opposition's concern that the ANC, through its links to Hitachi Power Africa, would benefit as a result of proposed tariff increases.
"It's a misnomer. An increase in tariffs doesn't mean that a supplier gets the same increase, there is nothing like that," he said.
Mantashe said Zille's opposition to the World Bank loan proved that she was not acting in the "national interest", given that energy security was paramount in SA. "An opposition party that works against the national interest is not a real opposition party," Mantashe said.
The Treasury said yesterday that the government was "mindful of some of the concerns raised" regarding Hitachi's contract for boilers for Eskom's Medupi power station. It said the government would engage with "concerned stakeholders".
With Karima Brown
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Africa have encourage distabilizer people like her for far too long in the continent. If she can behave like that against the country she's living in; imaging if she's out of the continent. These are the same individual people who want to see the down fall of the continent down to her knees; and , who only think they are the only individuals that can lift Africa from the negativities and destructions they have casted upon Africa for more than centuries. What a shame for a/an hyprocrite.
foryohjonathan0000
You miss the point, without any stick, there is no incentive for the ANC to clean up its act in corrupt dealings. Minorities are barking at the wind if they do not muster awareness in Europe and America of the wholesale self enrichment of people like malema and other dodgy beneficiaries of foreign good will.
In this instance however Britian would abstain from a vote regardless of DA issues, because if they opposed it, they would be shooting themselves in the foot as they also face a power shortage and will be building more power stations.
But the issue with racial inequality under the excuse of historical legacy and corrup officials filling their pockets can only be helped if south africans, especially the 1 million living in Britian unify to raise awarenes and even motivate punitive measures.
The world needs to know that white farmers are being systematically murdered. But it can only respond by hurting.
An Honest ANC ruling party is exactly in the best interst of the country.
Malema wins contracts, via partnerships or spinn-offs while he works full time as President of the ANC youth league. Zuma, late with his tax status. Corrupt practices in procurement of social housing for the needy.
Corrupt arms deals.
It is precisely in the public's interest to raise these issues where it counts. The ANC is not going to sit and listen to anyone saying these things back home. They are more likely to listen if it starts hurting them. Like when the usual outstreched hand for international financial help makes its usual appearance.
The weatly African elite always are keen to use the need of their suffering people as a moral argument for financing, but then they use it wastefully and in as self enrichment of elite minority fasion.
I totally support showing true colors to the world. Africa must decide, either be part of the system or go it alone.