Court orders former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe to pay R10m back to pension fund

Former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe has been ordered by the North Gauteng High Court to pay back the almost R10 million in pension benefits he received when he left the state-owned entity.

This comes four years after the court set aside his pension payouts and was told to repay the Eskom Pension and Provident Fund (EPPF).

Despite initially being told to pay back the money in 2018, Molefe hasn’t paid a cent. He has argued that he hasn’t been told how much he needs to pay back.

The court has now given him an answer. The former Eskom CEO was told he needs to pay back R9.985,540 plus interest.

“[The] ruling means Mr Molefe will have to pay back as directed by the court,” the court said. 

In November 2016, Molefe retired from Eskom with a R30 million early retirement package. He was then reinstated as CEO in May 2017.

The High Court ruled that his reinstatement at Eskom was invalid and his early retirement package was unlawful.

He was then ordered to repay the EPPF the money he’d already received.

State capture report

Molefe was one of several high-profile figures named in Chief Justice Raymond Zondo’s state capture report. It looked into Molefe’s tenure as CEO of Transnet.

ALSO READ: Arrest of Brian Molefe and Anoj Singh over Transnet imminent – report

Referring to the Gupta-owned newspaper The New Age (TNA), the report recommended the country’s law enforcement agencies look into prosecuting Molefe over his role in suspect contracts between Transnet and TNA – “particularly his misrepresentation that some of those contracts were partnerships when they were sponsorships”.

Transnet spent millions of rands on advertising in TNA during his tenure.