August 29, 2025.

For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Halima Frost.

Making headlines:

DA gets biggest quarterly donation

AfriForum probes legality of Nersa settlement with Eskom

And, Eskom supplier receives 12-year prison sentence

Ahead of the 2026/27 local government elections, the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa has recorded an upward trend in political funding, amounting to more than R40-million, with the Democratic Alliance emerging as the largest beneficiary of political donations.

The IEC said was more than double what was reported in the last two quarters of the previous financial year.

The ANC received R7.6-million in donations, from its regular donor Chancellor House, while ActionSA declared R520 000 from party leader and businessman Herman Mashaba.

The DA, ANC and ActionSA were the only parties that declared funding this quarter.

Lobby group AfriForum said on Friday that it will consult with its legal team about the constitutionality of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa’s) behind-closed-doors settlement with State-owned entity Eskom.

The settlement agreement relates to errors made by the regulator in its sixth multiyear price determination revenue decision.

AfriForum is arguing that the secret settlement may undermine transparency, accountability and consumer protection.

AfriForum Manager of Local Government Affairs Morné Mostert accused Nersa of “gross negligence” by withholding information relating to the settlement.

Power utility Eskom welcomes the sentencing handed down by the Middelburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court, in Mpumalanga, earlier this month relating to a case of fraud and corruption at the Tutuka power station.

In 2020, Eskom's investigations uncovered a syndicate that was paid to deliver three containers to the power station, but only one container was delivered. It also failed to meet the utility's specifications.

Eskom states that, although each container was valued at R60 000, the invoiced amount was grossly inflated. Through the use of overpriced invoices, the scheme defrauded Eskom of R2.6-million.    

The utility points out that the supplier Jessie Phindile Kubheka, a director and majority shareholder in one of the implicated companies, has been sentenced to 12 years for fraud, suspended for five years under strict conditions and four years for money laundering, suspended for five years.

She was also ordered to repay Eskom R2.6-million.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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