By: Natasha Archary

Eskom has suspended Karen Pillay, the power utility’s Head of Security pending the outcome of an investigation, following allegations levelled against her.
Pillay was place on precautionary suspension due to her possible involvement in irregularly awarding a R500 million contract to Fidelity Security Services.
The contract was reportedly awarded to the security company to investigate coal theft at Eskom in 2022.
Eskom spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena, confirmed that Pillay was suspended on Tuesday, 20 June to allow the investigation against her to continue unhindered.
Pillay has been accused of colluding with former Eskom CEO, Andre de Ruyter and Operations Manager, Jan Oberholzer to award Fidelity Security Services the multimillion Rand contract.
At the time, Eskom said the contract was in line with its procurement procedure and the National Treasury’s directives for “emergency procurement services.”
According to Eskom, the contract was awarded to Fidelity because there was a serious security risk to the embattled power utility’s operations and assets.
The R500 million contract was in place from July 2022 to September 2022.
Eskom paid Fidelity R500 million to focus on critical power stations, strategic corporate sites, and the transmission network.
The state-owned entity said the contract was awarded after assessing a quotation from Fidelity and being satisfied with the services offered.
However, the African Security Congress (ASC) accused Pillay, and her co-accused of trying to sabotage power stations in order to benefit from profits.
The political party that represents the interests of private security guards, is calling for an independent investigation into the contract and calling for the suspension of Oberholzer.
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