Two accused in the R1.4 billion Kusile power station corruption case have been convicted after entering into plea and sentence agreements with the National Prosecuting Authority’s Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC).
The Gauteng Local Division of the High Court in Johannesburg convicted Michael Lomas and Hudson Kgomoeswana after they pleaded guilty to multiple corruption-related charges linked to the Kusile power station upgrade project.
Lomas pleaded guilty to 34 counts of corruption relating to payments of more than R2.6 million made from his personal account to a company owned by one of the accused, between February 2015 and April 2017. The charges also include 24 rental payments worth more than R396,000 for an apartment in Midrand, which allegedly benefited two former senior Eskom employees. The payments were intended to influence the awarding of a contract to Tubular Constructions Projects, where Lomas worked.
He was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, suspended for five years, on condition that he is not convicted of fraud, theft or offences related to the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act during the suspension period. Lomas will also provide evidence to the State against some of the accused in the main case.
Kgomoeswana pleaded guilty to one count of corruption, 18 counts of money laundering and 15 counts of contravening the Tax Administration Act. The charges relate to more than R6 million in alleged corrupt payments made to a former senior Eskom employee through Babinatlou Business Services, a company owned by Kgomoeswana. The court heard that Kgomoeswana retained R757,000 for making his accounts available to facilitate the payments.
He was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for corruption and money laundering, with 10 years suspended for five years, and a further five years direct imprisonment for tax offences, running concurrently with the corruption and money laundering sentence. Kgomoeswana has agreed to the National Prosecuting Authority’s Asset Forfeiture Unit confiscating assets valued at more than R2.4 million.
The Kusile corruption matter involves allegations of fraud and corruption linked to funds allocated for the upgrade of Eskom’s Kusile power station between 2014 and 2017. Lomas was extradited from the United Kingdom in September 2024 and joined the other accused in the matter.
National Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Andy Mothibi welcomed the convictions, crediting cooperation between the IDAC, the Asset Forfeiture Unit, the South African Revenue Service, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation and Eskom for securing the outcome. He called on law enforcement agencies to continue strengthening collaboration in the fight against corruption.
The case against other accused in the matter, including Frans Hlakudi and Abram Masango, is expected to return to court on Friday, 7 August 2026, for trial.