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Opinion: Left to their devices Molefe and board will collapse Eskom

Picture credit: SIMON MATHEBULA
Picture credit: SIMON MATHEBULA

Anyone can be offered their job back after they resign. But in the case of Brian Molefe and Eskom, it is very different.

He resigned as Eskom CEO last year following the public protector's damning State of Capture report, which found he had been in constant contact with the Gupta family during a deal involving a coal mine that supplies Eskom.

When he resigned he claimed he wanted to clear his name. He said he was leaving in the interests of good governance. But in no time he was seconded by the ANC in North West to parliament as MP.

Molefe was not even a member of an ANC branch in that province. President Jacob Zuma's plan was on course to appoint him minister of finance but the ANC blocked the move. Now, because the plan failed, he is being taken back to head Eskom.

Almost all political parties including the ANC are angry over Eskom's decision to rehire Molefe.

After he left, his position was advertised and candidates were shortlisted. Molefe's name was not on the shortlist.

Molefe represents two issues: corruption at Eskom as well as desperation by the Zuma faction in the ANC to hold on to resources.

The Eskom board has to explain why it wanted to pay Molefe R30-million unlawfully. It used two provisions - retrenchment and early retirement - to justify the golden handshake. Both provisions were unlawful as they did not apply to Molefe.

The board did seek legal opinion, which indicated that the move would be illegal. So why did the board decide to reward Molefe so handsomely?

The real story at Eskom is the story of corruption and that is what the board must answer for.

The board approved the R30-million payment knowing that Molefe did not qualify in terms of his age. He is 50 years old and only those 55 or older would qualify for early retirement.

The board acted unlawfully and had minister Lynne Brown not stopped the board, Molefe would have received the money.

Now the noise around Molefe's return cannot be limited to him - the board must also resign. If it does not, there will be no Eskom to speak of in a few years' time.

The board is prepared to run the electricity utility down. It flaunted its own laws. This means good governance does not matter to it.

If the ANC does not put its foot down and ensure that the appointment is overturned then Molefe and the board are going to get away with murder.

Already, when Molefe resigned from parliament, he sent his letter directly to Speaker Baleka Mbete and not to the ANC chief whip, Jackson Mthembu, or to ANC secretar- general Gwede Mantashe.

The ANC deployment committee was also not informed about his return to Eskom - which is why the party wants Brown to explain how she and the board arrived at the decision.

What is clear is that Molefe is not serving in the interests of the ANC.

He was sworn in as an MP in February and made no impact in that capacity. He only went to parliament so he could become a minister. He could not live with being simply a back-bencher.

Clearly people like Molefe have to be stopped and the ANC must rise above the rot. Zuma's faction is becoming increasingly desperate and is even discarding the ANC in the process. What they are forgetting is that the power they hold derives from the party.

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