In May, 2021 The Special Tribunal froze the bank accounts of a senior Eskom manager over millions in alleged kickbacks. The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) launched civil proceedings against the power utility’s coal operations senior manager, Petrus Mazibuko, after a whistle-blower alerted them to R11m worth of alleged kickbacks allegedly paid to him. The investigation revealed that Petrus Mazibuko had not obtained any written authority to do work outside his Eskom employment, or to receive any remuneration in addition to his Eskom salary. 'This is a violation of Eskom’s conflict of interest policy requiring all employees to annually disclose their interests. This evidence was referred to Eskom with the recommendation to suspend Mazibuko pending the investigation’s finalisation.' 'The whistle-blower informed Eskom he had been asked for a bribe by the individual, and Eskom then referred the information to the SIU. Together they looked into the allegations and found R12m in Mazibuko's personal account. A former Eskom executive said corruption within the primary energy department was rife, and coal contracts were lucrative for syndicates that worked there.