R10.3m knife of Brian

There was a strong inference that Eskom and former CEO Brian Molefe deliberately devised a scheme to afford him pension benefits to which he was not entitled, a full bench of the High Court in Pretoria ruled yesterday.

The court ruled that the Eskom board’s November 2016 decision to accept Molefe’s “early retirement” with full pension benefits of R30.1 million after only 15 months’ service at the age of 50 “stretched incredulity”, was unlawful and in breach of Eskom’s pension fund rules.

The court gave Molefe 10 days to pay back the lump sum of over R10.3 million in pension benefits he had already received.

It also ruled that Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown’s decision to reinstate Molefe in May last year – although he was fired again a month later – had been irrational and unlawful.

Judge Elias Matojane said that as an employee with a five-year fixed-term contract, Molefe had not been entitled to any pension benefits. Any payments made to him were patently unlawful.

“What is most disturbing is the total lack of dignity and shame by people in leadership positions who abuse public funds with naked greed for their own benefit, without a moment’s consideration of the circumstances of fellow citizens who live in absolute squalor with no basic services,” he said.

Brown and Eskom had not been entitled to, and acted irrationally, in ignoring the allegations in former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s State of Capture report that Molefe had abused his position to benefit the Guptas in the improper and possibly corrupt awarding of state contracts.

It was not possible for Eskom to make a rational decision on Molefe’s reinstatement without at least probing the allegations, as it had control over all the relevant evidence, Matojane added.

– ilsedl@citizen.co.za

Criminal prosecution can now begin – union

• Trade union Solidarity’s chief executive Dirk Hermann welcomed the ruling, saying it opened the way to criminally prosecute Molefe and other top officials at Eskom. He said the judgment revealed clear evidence of corruption and Solidarity would keep the National Prosecuting Authority to their statement under oath that they would investigate Molefe. It planned to make representations to the Hawks within the next two weeks about the criminal charges.

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