Our own soap opera of note
HAVING watched the soap opera in Parliament in regard to the Eskom and Brian Molefe saga, what happened would be considered in normal countries as totally unbelievable, but unfortunately our “president” has made issues like this totally believable and acceptable.
I thought a point by point summary (not sure I have the correct order but it’s not too important) of the “reasons” given by the Eskom board, Molefe and Lynne Brown might be of interest as they have all spun a total lot of rubbish trying to justify the “reappointment” of Molefe as chief executive of Eskom.
He resigned from Eskom among tears after the “State of Capture” report, for good governance and to “clear” his name, which drew praise from many quarters, notwithstanding some issues in his previous positions that were never resolved.
He has still to “clear” his name. He was then appointed an MP for a constituency that didn’t even know him.
He was awarded a R30 million payout which started the soap opera/farce that has developed. Brown stopped the payout. Then it was decided that he had not resigned, but had taken early retirement. From the calculations of experts, it was not possible to have earned a R30m pension in the 18 months he was at Eskom.
Then it was a “retrenchment” package, but he was not retrenched.
Then it was a performance bonus, but he had just been paid a performance bonus and, anyway, performance bonuses are not paid to “early retirees” or anyone who has resigned.
Then he was reinstated as chief executive as Brown said this was cheaper to the taxpayer than paying out R30m – no one has yet had sight of his contract.
Then we are informed that early retirement can only be from the age of 55. Molefe is 52.
This was a mistake that nobody picked up, not Molefe (totally unbelievable); the Eskom board (even more unbelievable); the Eskom legal team (beyond comprehension); and finally the Eskom HR department (who should all be fired).
Why would SA want these people involved at all in Eskom or as an MP (nearly minister of finance) when they make these sort of “mistakes”?
Then it was discovered that he had already been paid out R7m, but only needed to pay it back in November. (Why not immediately?)
Brown assumed Molefe had retired, made no effort to check on the situation or get legal advice on the process.
Why does SA want her as a minister in the government?
She seems to have claimed that she was “unaware” of so many of the issues – not believable.
Then we hear that he was on unpaid leave.
So what was the R7m for? Although on “unpaid” leave, he took up a position as an MP. On being questioned about this, Molefe said he did not know that he was still employed by Eskom.
Does SA want this man in charge of Eskom?
Brown stated that Zuma did not instruct her to reappoint Molefe.
Maybe he didn’t exactly put it like that, but are we to believe that Eskom can just go to an MP, tell him to resign and come back to Eskom
without total clearance from the president?
What an insult to Parliament, to the constituency he “represented”, and the people of South Africa.
So, what makes Molefe so valuable to the ANC that he is so well looked after and well rewarded?
He knows where Eskom skeletons are hidden and has the key to the cupboard. Not good news for a lot of people. . A full financial and legal investigation by independent companies nominated by the Parliament Oversight Committee going back several years is now an absolute must.