California has long occupied a special place on President Donald Trump’s list of election grievances.
Asked recently why he was urging his supporters to vote by mail while continuing to claim the method is rife with fraud, Trump singled out one state.
“Start off by taking a look at California,” Trump said. “There is a lot of cheating in vote-by-mail. All over.”
It was far from the first time that Trump had falsely gone after the nation’s largest and most prominent state — which on Thursday became the target of an extraordinary federal lawsuit aiming to bar California officials from counting the ballots of 20,000 people alleged to be noncitizens*.
But during Trump’s second term, these attacks have gone beyond rhetoric — they have increasingly been backed by the machinery of the federal government. Among the Trump administration’s efforts in the Golden State have…
THE TUTUKA POWER STATION PROCUREMENT FRAUD (ESKOM)
Date: August 29, 2025 Perpetrator: Jessie Phindile Kubheka (Supplier Director)
Case Description: As part of the ongoing “cleaning up” of Eskom, Jessie Phindile Kubheka was sentenced to 12 years (with 5 years suspended) for defrauding the Tutuka Power Station. The case involved a sophisticated procurement syndicate that exploited Eskom’s emergency repair protocols. Kubheka’s company was contracted to deliver three high-specification containers for the power station. Only one container was ever delivered, and even that single unit failed to meet the required safety and technical specifications.
Despite the lack of delivery, Kubheka issued grossly inflated invoices, defrauding the utility of approximately R2.6 million. The Middelburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court ordered Kubheka to repay the full amount. This case is significant because it marks a shift in Eskom’s strategy toward “naming and shaming” suppliers and pursuing full asset recovery. It serves as a stark warning to contractors that the 2026 climate of “Zero Tolerance” for state-owned enterprise (SOE) fraud is backed by active judicial enforcement.
Link to Original: Eskom Official – Tutuka Fraud Sentencing