Parliament - Former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe on Tuesday again questioned former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's statement that he repeatedly had telephone contact with the Gupta brothers, whose companies raked in billions of rands from the power utility and other parastatals.
Molefe told a parliamentary inquiry into Eskom that because Madonsela did not provide Ajay Gupta's phone number or the dates and times when he was allegedly in contact with him, he was not in a position to confirm her finding that he placed 44 phone calls to the businessman and received 14 calls from him over an eight-month period.
"She does not provide the phone numbers nor the dates and times when the phone calls were made. It is therefore difficult for me to determine the veracity of her claim," he read from an opening statement to the inquiry.
He also sought to debunk Madonsela's assertion that cell phone records placed him in the Saxonwold area -- which is home to the family's mansion -- 19 times.
Molefe said he had been told by a communication expert that any cell phone user that is in the vicinity of a transmission tower, would be recorded as being in a particular area, even if it is just in passing through. In his case, his records placed him in Saxonwold and surrounds in this manner five, and not 19, times.
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He went on to deny ever having phone contact with Atul Gupta, saying he received a phone call from him once but it was forwarded to his voicemail.
"There is no other phone record in my phone record that shows that I returned Mr Atul Gupta's call or that he ever tried to contact me again."
Madonsela's observations were contained in her "State of Capture" report which prompted Molefe to leave Eskom. He said on Tuesday she never gave him a chance to respond to her observations.
"Therefore I have not had an opportunity to talk to her about those phone calls."
Molefe said he had been unable to challenge Madonsela in court because her report did not make formal findings.