British businessman and former Eskom contractor Michael Lomas will not serve further time behind bars after being handed a 15-year prison sentence, wholly suspended for five years, by the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg.
The 79-year-old's sentencing follows a guilty plea to 34 charges of fraud, theft, and corruption tied to a massive R1.4 billion upgrade project at the Kusile Power Station in Mpumalanga.
The anatomy of the graft
The high-profile corruption scandal centers around the Tubular Construction Projects, a company contracted by the state-owned power utility. According to the National Prosecuting Authority's Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), Eskom paid the firm roughly R745 million for work on the air-cooled condensers across three of Kusile's units – a contract that ultimately ballooned to cost the utility R1.4 billion.
Lomas admitted to actively funneling over R2.6 million in personal funds as bribes to secure the lucrative tender to Tubular. His plea statement outlined a series of corrupt transactions committed between February 2015 and April 2017, which included ten separate direct cash deposits totaling over R2.24 million sent to accounts linked to former Eskom manager France Hlakudi, alongside 24 separate rental payments amounting to over R396,000 to cover a Midrand property that benefited Hlakudi and another former senior Eskom manager, Abram Masango.
Extradition, plea deal, and mitigation
Lomas was arrested by British authorities in 2021 following a warrant requested by South Africa. After a lengthy legal battle over his extradition, he was brought back to South Africa in 2024, where he was kept in custody until securing bail. Having already spent roughly 10 months behind bars, Lomas ultimately entered into a formal plea and sentence agreement with the State under section 105A of the Criminal Procedure Act.
In handing down the sentence, the court weighed a delicate balance of factors. Prosecutors and the defense pointed to Lomas's advanced age of 79, his deteriorating health condition requiring round-the-clock medical considerations, his genuine remorse, and the time he had already served pre-trial.
Under the terms of the agreement, the 15-year prison sentence is suspended for five years, conditional upon Lomas not being convicted of fraud, theft, or violations of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (PRECCA) during that period. Furthermore, as part of the deal, Lomas has agreed to provide crucial state evidence against remaining co-accused individuals in the broader Kusile corruption trial.
Wider legal fallout
The conclusion of Lomas's trial marks a major milestone for IDAC in dismantling the network responsible for bleeding state utility funds during a critical period of South Africa's energy crisis.
Co-accused businessman Maphoko Kgomoeswana also entered a guilty plea, receiving a 15-year sentence (with 10 years suspended) alongside asset confiscations valued at over R2.4 million. Meanwhile, trials and legal proceedings for other high-ranking co-accused figures tied to the scandal, including former executives France Hlakudi and Abram Masango, continue to move through the courts.