Latest news with #R1.56bn
IOL News
24-07-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Matshela Koko won't challenge court ruling on R1. 56bn Eskom, ABB settlement
Former acting Eskom chief executive Matshela Koko will not challenge the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria judgment dismissing his application to intervene in the dispute between the power utility and ABB South Africa, which agreed to pay almost R1.56 billion in 2020. Image: Bheki Radebe / Independent Newspapers Former acting Eskom chief executive, Matshela Koko, will not challenge the ruling declining his bid to intervene in the R1.56 billion settlement agreement reached by the power utility and ABB South Africa. The Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, last month dismissed with costs Koko's application to intervene in the matter in terms of an earlier judgment delivered in April 2024. At the time, the high court ordered any interested party who has a direct and material interest in its orders on the R1.56bn settlement to apply within 30 days of the last date of publication of the order for leave to intervene and describe the nature of their interest in the relief and the relief sought. The court also ordered that interested parties must show cause, on a date and on such terms as it may determine after receipt of any application why the order should be altered, varied or rescinded. In compliance with the April 2024 order Koko complained that unflattering allegations were made against him in the papers filed in the review proceedings and that he was referred to by name and some paragraphs contain reference to his conduct. He said the settlement agreement for ABB to pay Eskom had negative consequences for him as his bank account was closed and he suffered reputational harm. In refusing Koko's intervention application, Acting Judge Irene de Vos found that he lacked a direct and substantial interest in the subject matter of the review proceedings. "Koko launched an application to rescind an order in circumstances where he largely accepts the order is correct; where he is not mentioned in either the order or the judgment; for purposes of protecting his reputation," the acting judge stated. The contract in question was for the provision of control and instrumentation system for the coal-fired Kusile Power Station project constructed under Eskom's nation building programme to increase its generating capacity. Eskom, ABB and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) later applied to the court to set aside the contract as a result of corruption and bribery that occurred in the award. The SIU has publicly indicated that it intends to claim monies from Koko, who fears such action. He told the court that not having been cited in the review proceedings means he is limited in presenting a defence in potential future proceedings to be brought against him. In response to questions, Koko, who represented himself in the matter, said the judgment could be summarised as a mixed outcome, adding that he lost the battle to intervene in the review proceedings, but emerged with a significant procedural victory in the broader context. He further said he won the war by emerging from the case without adverse findings or direct legal accountability. Koko added that this procedural victory distances him from the ABB contract irregularities and undermines the narrative tying him to corruption, providing him with a solid defence in this specific legal chapter. [email protected] [email protected]
TimesLIVE
15-07-2025
- Automotive
- TimesLIVE
Ferrari Chair John Elkann settles inheritance tax dispute in Italy
Stellantis and Ferrari chair John Elkann and his siblings Lapo and Ginevra have settled a tax dispute in Italy over the inheritance of their grandmother Marella Caracciolo, a spokesperson for the three brothers said on Sunday. The case, opened last year, alleged the three did not pay taxes in the country on assets they inherited after the death in 2019 of Caracciolo, the wife of late Fiat boss Gianni Agnelli. The spokesperson said John, Lapo and Ginevra, 'with the aim of rapidly and definitively closing a painful personal and family vicissitude', had reached a 'comprehensive settlement' with the Italian tax agency. 'This settlement was concluded without any admission, not even tacit or partial, of the grounds of the objections initially alleged,' the spokesperson said, adding discussions were also under way with prosecutors in the city of Turin, Northern Italy, who launched the investigation, though their outcome was not yet defined. Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano, which initially reported the news on Sunday, said the Elkanns would pay at least €175m (R3.63bn) to settle the tax dispute. Italy's Revenue Agency did not respond to a request for comment sent by Reuters. The case stems from a wider inheritance dispute between the Elkanns and their mother Margherita over the estate of Agnelli, which has divided one of Italy's best known business dynasties. As part of this case, a judge in Turin last year seized money and assets worth almost €75m (R1.56bn) from five people, including John, Lapo and Ginevra Elkann.
