Durban - Chancellor House, the ANC's investment company, will appoint bankers to advise it on how to exit a controversial multibillion-rand deal with state-owned Eskom.
Mathews Phosa, the ANC's new treasurer-general, said this week that Chancellor House's exit from the deal would be done transparently.
There will be no deals in the corner. It will be very transparent. It will be handled by a reputable bank, Phosa said.
Asked whether Chancellor House would sell the stake, Phosa said: I don't know if they will sell it. They would have to be advised.
Phosa said the decision to exit the deal was made because governance is an issue and there is public focus on this.
Chancellor House holds a 25 percent stake in Hitachi Power Africa, which, as part of a consortium, has been awarded contracts to supply boilers to Eskom's two new coal-fired power stations.
The Mail & Guardian last week reported that Chancellor House would exit the deal after it highlighted how unsavoury it was for a company owned by the ruling party to benefit from a state contract.
It also pointed out that Eskom chairman Valli Moosa sat on the ANC's fundraising committee.
It is estimated that Chancellor House's stake in the deal is worth about R5.8 billion.
Phosa told the Mail & Guardian: Corporate governance and good business practice are binding on all citizens of this country. No one is above this This is the message we want to bring across.
The decision to exit the deal is despite a Deloitte audit of the tender process that declared it fair, transparent, equitable, cost effective and competitive, and not biased towards any predetermined outcome.
Deloitte said: There was no information that indicated there was any political influence.
Robin Duff, the managing director of Hitachi Power Africa, told Business Report yesterday that in terms of a shareholder agreement, if Chancellor House wants to sell it has to offer them to us first.
If Hitachi opts not to buy them, then Chancellor House has the right to sell to another party, but only at the price they were offered to Hitachi.
Duff, who said Hitachi was not aware that Chancellor House was an ANC company when it did an empowerment deal with it, said there had been no formal approach from Chancellor House on the matter of exiting the deal. If or when it did, we will find another partner, Duff said.
Mamatho Netsianda, the managing director of Chancellor House, refused to speak to Business Report on the matter.
Eskom said in a written response to questions that Hitachi Africa had not yet informed it that Chancellor House would exit the deal.
If this is so, Eskom will first review the contractual obligations in respect of black economic empowerment and then, together with Hitachi, review the situation. it said.