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Former Eskom chief executive Brian Molefe arrived for Parliament’s inquiry into the power utility’s governance matters, flanked by two men thought to be his lawyers.
The trio chose the back seats in the venue, with the two men flanking the slouching Molefe and frequently engaged in deep discussions with him.
Molefe, who left Eskom under a cloud late last year, was scheduled to give testimony to the inquiry this afternoon.
After he was implicated in the Public Protector’s State of Capture report, he left Eskom to clear his name, became a member of Parliament two months later and was in and out of Eskom again when details and challenges to his R30 million pension payout emerged.
His arrival at the inquiry this morning coincided with questions from the inquiry’s evidence leader, Ntuthuzelo Vanara, about his contested pension payout and the terms of his permanent appointment at Eskom.
This was just minutes after former board member, Venete Klein, spoke glowingly about his work at Eskom.
Klein revealed that the entire Eskom board was in awe of what Molefe had been able to deliver at the power utility with regards to load shedding, especially that he did so with the same executive team that had previously struggled to deal with the issue.
“Bearing in mind that four senior executives had been suspended in March 2015, I was particularly relieved and pleased with the manner in which Mr Molefe had brought immediate stability to the organisation and taken control of the business with all the correct results,” she said.
Klein moved on to describe as “maladministration” the terms under which Molefe was employed at Eskom.
She also revealed that the R30 million pension was against the resolution of the Eskom board.
When pressed by Vanara as to whether the payment of R30 million from Eskom to the pension fund did not amount to theft camouflaged as pension, she responded: “I never thought about that until you asked.”
Klein confirmed that Molefe was appointed CEO through a “deviation” from the normal process of shortlisting three candidates because he was seen as the person who could turn around Eskom in the midst of load shedding. City Press reported 10 days ago how the Eskom board, led by Ben Ngubane, pushed for Molefe’s permanent appointment to the power utility’s top job just two months into his secondment to the post.
As MPs, Vanara and Klein discussed details of Molefe’s employment contract and his pension payout, he kept a straight face and remained slouched in his seat without showing any emotion.
Meanwhile, Klein admitted to the inquiry that “something happened” to change the minds of fellow board members in a meeting in March where the board met to discuss acting chief executive Matshela Koko’s suspension.
Five board members including Klein and then chairperson Ngubane and his then deputy Zethembe Khoza attended the meeting held at 12pm that day. When the meeting reconvened at 6pm, the board members with the exception of Klein had changed their minds.
Eskom board spokesperson Khulani Qoma told the inquiry last week that a last-minute call from Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown scuppered the special Eskom board meeting convened to suspend Koko.
According to Qoma, Brown telephoned Ngubane as he addressed the board meeting about the decision to suspend Koko.
This, she did at the request of the Guptas, according to Qoma. Koko was going to be suspended in connection with contracts worth millions of rands awarded to Impulse International, where his stepdaughter was a director. He was eventually suspended on August 2.
At the start of today’s meeting, MPs across the political party spectrum condemned the allegations against State Security Minister Bongani Bongo who allegedly tried to bribe Vanara to stop the inquiry into Eskom. MPs called for a speedy investigation by Parliament including reporting Bongo to the public protector and for legal action to be taken against him. ANC MP Mondli Gungubele said they were treating the matter as an allegation but “if it’s true it would be a low point for our democracy”.
