Themba Teddy Mpika, a former senior technician at the financially troubled power company Eskom, came before the Middelburg Regional Court in Mpumalanga on charges of defrauding the state-owned company.

The 48-year-old was taken into custody by the Hawks, or Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, on suspicion of stealing and fraud.

“It is alleged that between 2016 and 2019, the accused was employed by Eskom as a senior technician, stationed at Camden power station,” Hawks spokesperson in Mpumalanga, Warrant Officer Thandi Tshabalala said.

“While working for Eskom, the accused, as a sole director of the company called My Teddy Enterprise PTY Ltd applied for a tender at Eskom, and the tender was awarded

“In the process, the accused (Mpika) failed to declare that he is employed by Eskom. The accused further provided misleading information on the company’s integrity declaration form, by failing to indicate that he is conducting business with Eskom,” said Tshabalala.

Instead, the Hawks said Mpika indicated on the declaration forms that he does not conduct “any business” with Eskom.

“As a result, Eskom suffered an actual loss of about R6 million,” said Tshabalala.

The accused was granted R200,000 bail, and the case was postponed to January 15, for further investigations.