- Former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe has lost his appeal this week.
- The Gauteng High Court ruled that he must repay unlawfully received pension payouts amounting to around R10 million.
The Pretoria High Court ordered on 4 July 2022 that Mr Molefe had to pay back benefits unlawfully received from the Eskom Pension and Provident Fund (EPPF). The Fund took legal action against Mr Molefe to compel him to pay back the money in line with the original court judgment from 2018. Mr Molefe had appealed the matter, eventually going to the Constitutional Court in 2019.
The EPPF had also asked the High Court to determine and order how much needed to be repaid considering Mr Molefe’s own contributions to the Fund while he was an employee of Eskom, his accumulated retirement savings transferred to the EPPF from his previous employer, as well as the related tax implications and applicable interest.
The EPPF repaid the R30 million that was unlawfully paid to it by Eskom, as this amount was not in dispute. Read more
The nearly R10 million in benefits was the subject of the latest court ruling. “Now that the court has dismissed Mr Molefe’s leave to appeal application, the EPPF will seek to recover this money from Mr Molefe,” the EFFP confirmed.
Related news: Ex Eskom CEO Brian Molefe’s Luxury Bushveld Lodge Auctioned Off at a Loss
The story of Molefe and his pension fund was broken by Daily Maverick’s Pauli van Wyk shortly after Molefe tearfully resigned as Eskom CEO in December 2016. This was after he was linked to the Gupta family in Thuli Madonsela’s State of Capture report — her final report as Public Protector. Read in Daily Maverick: SCORPIO: The pension like no other — the truth of Brian Molefe’s R30m Eskom ‘golden handshake’ exposed
The report showed that Molefe and Ajay Gupta, the eldest of the Gupta brothers, had made 58 telephone calls to each other between August 2015 and March 2016, and that Molefe had visited their Saxonwold compound 19 times in a similar timeframe. Two brothers, currently facing extradition from Dubai, are largely considered the chief architects of state capture in South Africa, looting billions of rands from various state owned entities plus driving a nuclear power agenda over renewable energy with South Africa’s ex-president, Jacob Zuma.
In related breaking news, Jacob Zuma lambasted the current government for surrendering Eskom to international commercial interests and praised Brian Molefe. He was speaking in a briefing organised by his foundation in Sandton yesterday.
“As a developmental state, we had the key objective of bringing electricity to every village and every home through Eskom. Eskom is now being surrendered to international commercial interest, for them to profit from our people’s need for electricity. In other words, those who are in charge of the country are taking the property of the country, doing business for themselves, perhaps with their friends, wherever they are,” said Zuma.
Zuma also claimed that his government ended load shedding between 2015 and 2018.
“This load shedding was stopped for three years in the time of professionals such as Mr Brian Molefe, and Matshela Koko. Load shedding started immediately after certain agreements were concluded with independent power producers and has never stopped since then. Why does the correct leadership fail to get a handle on the issues of Eskom?” Zuma asked.
Related news: Former Acting Eskom CEO Matshela Koko Faces Imminent Arrest
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
