THE National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA’s) Investigating Directorate will oppose bail against former Eskom contractor, Michael Lomas, who was extradited from the UK last year to face corruption charges.
According to the directorate, the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, postponed Lomas’s bail application to next Friday for further hearing.
The directorate’s legal representative placed it on record that the State opposes the application and promised that an affidavit would be provided, detailing the reasons for opposing Lomas’s bail bid.
Lomas was successfully extradited from the UK in September last year.
He first appeared in the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court and his case was subsequently transferred to the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crime Court.
The court eventually transferred it to the high court to be joined with that of the 11 other accused charged with him.
”In all these court appearances, he reserved his right to apply for bail. He later in December 2024, following his first appearance at the Johannesburg High Court, filed a notice with the high court indicating his intention to formally apply for bail,” the directorate explained.
Lomas and other co-accused are facing 41 counts of corruption linked to the R1.4 billion that was meant for the upgrade of Eskom’s Kusile power station in Mpumalanga between 2014 and 2017.
A pre-trial hearing is set for March this year.
The State’s case relates to allegations that Lomas fled the country after allegations emerged that he was party to the misappropriation of R1.4bn for the upgrade of the power station.
He is currently out on bail of nearly R2 million and has submitted additional security of nearly R4.3m to the court.
He is charged alongside former Eskom group executive for group capital division Abram Masango, the power utility’s ex-senior manager for group capital division France Hlakudi, as well as Tubular Construction Project owner Antonio José Trindade, and Babinatlou Business Services’ Hudson Kgomoeaswana, among others.
loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za