Former Eskom executive Matshela Koko has jumped onto the Madlanga commission bandwagon against disgraced ex-Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) boss Adv Andrea Johnson, demanding a similar break to that given to national police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola over the circumstances of his controversial 2022 arrest.
After charges against Masemola were dropped and questions around his arrest referred to the Idac judge for investigation, Koko now wants National Director of Public Prosecutions Andy Mothibi to extend the same scrutiny to his case.
Koko insists the two cases carry a striking common thread: both arrests happened under an Idac headed by Johnson.
He has asked Mothibi to commission an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding his arrest.
Koko was arrested for alleged corruption that allegedly took place at Eskom, but his case was later thrown out by the court in 2023 due to unreasonable delays by the prosecution.
However, in several subsequent media interviews, Johnson stressed that the case being struck from the roll did not mean Koko was off the hook; Idac could still bring the charges back in the future.
It appears that Koko has been having sleepless nights over the potential to be recharged in a case he believes was to spite him because he took unpopular decisions while in charge at the power utility.
“On 15 September 2026 you withdrew charges that … Johnson, had brought against … Masemola. You found no reasonable prospects of success and said that enrolling a case on insufficient evidence is not in the public interest,” Koko’s lawyers, Mashele Attorneys, wrote to Mothibi, in a letter we’ve seen.
“You also undertook to refer the handling of that case to the Idac Judge. Our client asks for no more than the same standard. The National Director of Public Prosecutions cannot apply one standard to [Masemola] and another to our client.”
Koko believes that several irregularities occurred leading up to and during his arrest.
He highlights untruths and contradictions contained in investigating officer Lt-Col Petrus Johannes du Plessis’ affidavit in support of search-and-seizure warrants.
Mashele attorneys argue that Koko was nabbed even though Du Plessis was unsure if evidence of corruption existed during his justification of the search-and-seizure operation.
“The day before the arrest, therefore, the directorate’s own investigating officer told a judicial officer on oath three things: the alleged corruptor was dead; the state had no witness who could explain the payments; and the state did not know whether evidence of the payments existed at all. He was applying for warrants to search for it. The directorate arrested our client the next day,” wrote Neo Mashele.
Koko insists that the investigating officer also lied under oath about him being “engaged in a general corrupt relationship with ABB employees (Bruegmann/Vip/Wolff) and Mokwena during the period 2014 to 2019”.
He insists this is wrong because the same officer claims his relationship with Mokwena ended when R9.6-million was made in June 2015.
“The two statements cannot both be true. The second is the version ABB itself recorded in the Statement of Facts.”
In any event, Koko says the tech giant – ABB, which is the source of the case that was preferred against him – is on record under oath that it “does not have any evidence of payments made directly to Koko.”
NPA spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said Koko can go to the Idac judge directly instead of taking the long route of going via the prosecuting authority.
“We referred the case to the police national commissioner only because we were reviewing it as the NPA; that is not the same as Mr Koko’s case, which was struck off the roll by the court,” said Kganyago.
- Matshela Koko has requested an independent investigation into the circumstances of his 2022 arrest, similar to the inquiry into Gen Fannie Masemola's arrest.
- Both Koko's and Masemola's arrests took place under an Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) led by Adv Andrea Johnson.
- Koko's corruption case was dismissed in 2023 due to unreasonable prosecution delays, but Idac indicated charges could be reinstated.
- Koko's lawyers allege inconsistencies and falsehoods in the affidavit of investigating officer Lt-Col Petrus Johannes du Plessis supporting search warrants.
- The National Prosecuting Authority stated Koko can approach the Idac judge directly for investigation, differing from action taken in Masemola's case.
