PwC pays Eskom R43m to settle case
PwC has agreed to pay R43m to Eskom to settle a High Court case launched by the utility in 2021 to recover funds paid to the consulting firm after the so-called ‘capital scrubbing’ project.
Moneyweb reports that the case goes back to 2016 when Eskom hired PwC to help identify capital projects that could be scrapped, delayed or trimmed down, with Eskom hoping to save R30bn to R40bn in capex over five years.
But the project was terminated early, with Eskom issuing a letter of demand for repayment of R95m after a forensic report found that Eskom’s internal staff had already done all the hard work.
The consulting firm said PwC participated in good faith in what it believed was a compliant bidding process for the award of the capital scrubbing engagement.
However, the State Capture Commission found the capital scrubbing contract between PwC and Eskom to be irregular due to Eskom’s non-compliance with relevant procurement laws.
The court proceedings followed this finding.
There was no evidence that any partner or staff member from PwC was involved in any unlawful or irregular conduct in the bid for or award of the capital scrubbing engagement.
Similarly, there was no finding of any wrongdoing against PwC made by the court regarding the civil dispute between PwC and Eskom.
We are pleased to have finally concluded this longstanding civil dispute.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.