A businessman whose origin is from Britain has been extradited, and that individual will now face charges in South Africa in regard to the charges of corruption and fraud that are relative to his work as a contractor for the nation’s state-owned power utility Eskom, which is in a financial crisis currently.
Michael Lomas is accused of pocketing kickbacks on the contracts to do work between his company Tubular Construction and Eskom for services at the Kusile power station. The contracts were over 1.5 Billion Rand, or about $85 Million.
National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said that Lomas allegedly had manipulated contracts to escape to the UK following his arrest and release on bail. He was so far unable to comment about the allegations.
Eskom has faced numerous corruption claims and stern criticism as it serves in some blackouts across South Africa for quite a considerable time. It is facing a challenge in retrieving its years of mismanagement.
Lomas arrived under heavy police escort at OR Tambo Airport in Johannesburg yesterday morning. He, who traveled on this flight with a medical doctor, whose presence was one condition of the extradition order due to his poor health, is set to appear before the court to receive the formal charges later in the day.
The NPA filed extradition proceedings against Lomas in 2022, which were, however, delayed as he lodged numerous appeals. Lomas is one of five others who have been charged with fraud, money laundering, and corruption involving a 1 Billion Rand cash injection into the Kusile power station project, two of whom are senior Eskom executives and two other businessmen.
The project was to ease the electricity shortages in South Africa but has been studded with delays and faults. Mathe describes Lomas as a “wanted fugitive” who will be handed over to the Hawks, which is specialized police meant for investigating economic crime, corruption, as well as organized crime. Since 2017, the Hawks have been working on the case when one of its employees reported irregularities in one of the tenders.
