Molefe may not miss out on R9.5m bonus even after resigning
ESKOM CEO Brian Molefe might pocket a multimillion-rand bonus from the parastatal — despite serving for only 18 months.
Molefe’s R9.5-million bonus, which was due in June 2018 if he met performance requirements, could be paid out to him in January after he had served his notice period.
His lucrative incentive is likely to be a contentious issue between the power utility’s board and Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown.
Molefe earned a total annual package of R8-million, and the bonus — 7 502 880 shares allotted to him in April last year — is part of the executive management’s long-term incentives.
Eskom’s policy states that executives forfeit their shares if they do not remain for the duration of the three-year period, unless there are other permitted reasons.
The remuneration structure, as stipulated in Eskom’s annual report, states conditions under which Molefe would have been eligible for the bonus, including meeting financial targets, ensuring business sustainability and ensuring future power needs for South Africa are met.
“Awards only vest if and to the extent that these targets are met.”
Board chairman Ben Ngubane this week said they had not discussed Molefe’s payout.
“Our lawyers have said we must not talk anymore and the Department of Public Enterprises will do all the talking. Well, that [Molefe’s incentive payout] has never arisen in our board meetings so I can’t answer such things. This is an issue that has come up suddenly. Really we haven’t gone into that type of detail,” said Ngubane.
He referred the Sunday Times to Brown’s office. Brown’s spokesman, Colin Cruywagen, passed the buck back to the board. “The Eskom board is leading this process and it is premature to comment on a process that is ongoing,” he said.
Ngubane said even if he wanted to personally give Molefe a payout, he didn’t have the power. “We have to do it in terms of policy. I like the guy, but I can’t just give him a certain amount.”
Eskom spokesman Khulu Phasiwe said any payments to Molefe would be contained in the annual report and made public.
Molefe resigned on November 11, a week after the release of the public protector’s State of Capture report, which revealed that he and one of the Gupta brothers, Ajay, had spoken on the phone 58 times between August 2015 and March 2016.
The report further revealed that Molefe had been in Saxonwold, where the Guptas live, 19 times between August 5 2015 and November 17 2015.
Molefe said he had resigned to protect the image of the state-owned entity and that his move was not an admission of guilt.
In her final report former public protector Thuli Madonsela found that Eskom may have contravened the Public Finance Management Act and the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act in order to secure a R578-million advance payment for Tegeta Resources and Exploration that allowed the company to buy Optimum Coal Mine.
Molefe this week failed to respond to several phone calls and text messages.
Molefe might not need the money as he has built himself a healthy property portfolio over the past seven years.
Molefe was seconded to Eskom in April last year, after four years as group CEO of Transnet.
His property portfolio is worth more than R31-million, and includes two farms worth R18.5-million in Limpopo and near Pretoria. He has other properties in the capital city and in Hartbeespoort, Midrand and Cape Town.
In January this year he bought a farm in Pretoria worth R10-million and in 2013 he secured another in Limpopo worth R8.5-million. The farms are partly bonded and Molefe seemed to have made some cash payments towards them. He bought seven properties in Hartbeespoort worth at least R7.1-million. He has three properties in Irene.