Molefe return ‘reckless’

BACK AS ESKOM BOSS: OUTCRY OVER ‘GUPTA ALLY TO FAST-TRACK NUKE DEAL’

Board defends decision, saying State of Capture report was inconclusive.

The reinstatment of embattled Eskom chief executive Brian Molefe met with outrage yesterday and was labelled as just another way for the Guptas to lay their hands on the utility.

Eskom confirmed Molefe would be back next week. He has resigned as a member of parliament with effect from tomorrow and return to his former job after the board failed to reach an agreement with him on a pension payout after his “early retirement” in November 2016.

At the time, Eskom said Molefe was leaving voluntarily “in the interests of good governance” after he was implicated in former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s State of Capture report. It raised questions about his proximity to the Gupta family whose company, Tegeta Exploration and Resources, supplies coal to Eskom.

But Eskom board spokesperson Khulani Qoma said the report was inconclusive. “When he stepped down the board was not in agreement. It grudgingly accepted he was stepping down. The State of Capture [report] is actually not a conclusive document and we will have a conversation if it gets concluded at the point when it does; if it does,” he said.

The public outcry spurred Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown to call a press conference. “The outrage is around one issue in part and that’s the state capture report,” she said. “I told Molefe; I told the president actually it was his prerogative and his call for a commission of inquiry … Molefe is not guilty of anything yet.”

Brown said Molefe’s return was based on what was financially more viable for SA. She had discussed the R30 million pension payout with the board and later gave the thumbs up on the proviso that it was legal.

So Molefe will serve the remaining two-and-ahalf years of his term of office until his pension payout kicks in.

“I believe the board’s proposal ultimately represents a significantly better value proposition to the South African fiscus than the previous pension proposal. I informed the board I was satisfied with its re-evaluation process and recognised the merit in its proposal – on the proviso of its legality,” Brown said.

The ANC said it condemned the reckless decision taken by Eskom’s board to reinstate Molefe.

The Inkatha Freedom Party said it was a disgrace. “Molefe has an extremely chequered and compromised past as Eskom CEO with Brown even calling for a commission of inquiry into the parastatal’s dubious relations with the Guptas and their coal mining operation Tegeta, which had not complied with any of Eskom’s supply chain management principles,” the party said.

“That the Eskom board and the minister could even have considered his reinstatement as CEO as a solution when not finding an agreed upon pension amount is preposterous! The discussion should not be centred around remuneration but rather be about his accountability for the suspect transactions under his watch.”

The National Union of Mineworkers called Molefe’s reappointment a “joke”, while Save SA called it “a classic Zuma move”, adding: “President Jacob Zuma and the Gupta family have had their way long enough with Molefe at the centre of a number of their shenanigans .”

Political analyst Elvis Masoga said the Zuma faction was hoping Molefe would assist to fast-track the implementation of the nuclear deal.

Last month, Brown objected to Eskom’s R30 million pension payout to Molefe after he applied for early retirement.

Molefe is not guilty of anything yet