EFF and DA admitted in Molefe bid

THE EFF and DA have succeeded in their application to be admitted as interested parties in former Eskom chief executive Brian Molefe’s bid to have the Labour Court set aside his dismissal.

Molefe has been embroiled in a complicated working relationship with Eskom following his resignation from the entity at the end of December.

The DA said Molefe’s Labour Court application was an act of desperation that sought to argue he was unfairly dismissed‚ jeopardising a pending review of his reappointment.

In a separate high court matter‚ the EFF and the DA will argue that Molefe’s reappointment to Eskom was unlawful after he had resigned and later claimed to have been on unpaid leave.

“The two cases‚ the high court application and the present application, are clearly intertwined,” the EFF said in its submission to the court.

“The relief sought herein has an impact on the relief sought in the high court.

“An order declaring that the dismissal of Mr Molefe was unlawful and that he is entitled to relief clearly impacts on the relief sought by the EFF in the high court application.” Molefe’s heads of argument by his lawyers state: “We submit neither the DA nor the EFF have the requisite legal right to demand that they be granted leave to intervene in what is a private dispute between Mr Molefe and Eskom.”

Arguing for the DA‚ Advocate Paul Kennedy told the court yesterday: “The lawfulness of Mr Molefe’s reinstatement to Eskom is the very matter that is being challenged by the DA in a pending high court application.”

Judge Connie Prinsloo said she would release the reasons for her ruling at a later stage.