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#Molefe: Eskom and Brown fail to convince Parliament

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Brian Molefe: Resigned, retired, retrenched, retained...? (Pic: Gallo Images)
Brian Molefe: Resigned, retired, retrenched, retained...? (Pic: Gallo Images)
  • Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown: "I have instructed my legal team to withdraw my opposition to Part A of the relief sought – that I set aside my appointment of Mr Molefe."
  • ANC MP Pravin Gordhan: The Eskom board should be dismissed or they should step down. They have let South Africans down. Let's open the books so that the SA public can say, everything is on the table now, and we can do what is necessary.
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23 May 2017

Zukiswa Rantho, chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises: We are concerned with governance at Eskom. There seems to be a breakdown between the stakeholder and the board. Mr Molefe's reappointment is seen as illegal by this committee and it will see it this way until proven otherwise. We require Eskom to provide documents by committee members - correspondence that shows the decision to reappoint Mr Molefe. We are not convinced as a committee.

23 May 2017

DME Deputy Minister Ben Martins: I have discussed the issue (of State of Capture report findings) with the minister that as a matter of urgency it is important to lift the veil on the procurement of coal. It needs to be brought to the fore so that all companies concerned can be identified. We need to know all the companies regardless of family associations, so there is transparency. This is within the power and remit of this ministry.

23 May 2017

23 May 2017

Lynne Brown: Will all be in court on the 30th of May.

23 May 2017

Brown: I have put it to Eskom to reduce the guarantees, but Eskom has never defaulted on its credit ratings.

23 May 2017

Lynne Brown: There is a lot of opinion in the room. I don't hold the same opinion. Thank god we live in a democracy where we can hold our own opinions. I do want our state owned companies to perform better. Strong governance and financials are important to us. There have been lots of misrepresentations.

23 May 2017

Lynne Brown: Cabinet approval is required for CEO appointments. We have started external evaluations of board members to give minister the opportunity to rotate members if need by. The Eskom AGM will occur at the end of June.
Lynne Brown: Cabinet approval is required for CEO appointments. We have started external evaluations of board members to give minister the opportunity to rotate members if need by. The Eskom AGM will occur at the end of June.<br />

23 May 2017

What the Eskom board told Lynne Brown about Brian Molefe's return:
What the Eskom board told Lynne Brown about Brian Molefe's return: <br />

23 May 2017

Zukiswa Rantho, chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises: We can't say findings of the Public Protector are not binding. It needs to be respected, like we respect auditor generals.

23 May 2017

Shivambu: We are dealing with an extremely corrupt family, who unfortunately controls the president of the country.

23 May 2017

EFF MP Floyd Shivambu: Brian Molefe was brought back so the Guptas could continue looting Eskom. When attempt to make him finance minister failed, they had to bring him back.

23 May 2017

Gordhan: The minister has very significant powers to hire and fire CEOs and the board. In the public interest, maybe some of those powers should be exercised sooner rather than later.

23 May 2017

Gordhan: We should call the CEO of the Eskom Pension Fund.

23 May 2017

Gordhan: The rating agencies have said governance in state owned entities is one of their major concerns. If Eskom has R350bn in guarantees and they default on this, then it is very serious for the fiscus.

23 May 2017

ANC MP Pravin Gordhan: We remember Enron ... their financials looked pretty good. That is part of the history of financials in the world that take the public for a ride. Numbers can speak all sorts of games. Auditors only check a sample of transactions. I don't see any litigation against media over all the stories that come out. Surely as a board with good governance, we want to know if it's true. Why have these not been challenged. Then we have to accept them as the truth. We don't have time as a committee on a full time basis to go through this in detail.

23 May 2017

IFP MP Narend Singh: The are many more questions that we need to ask. Why would we want to destroy Eskom and the good work they are doing because of one person?

23 May 2017

DA chief whip John Steenhuisen: I don't think hiring somebody with significant public chargers against him who has played with loops with the Constitutions is a fit and proper person to be the leader of Eskom. I would consider your options with this board. You will end up being the fall person.

23 May 2017

DA MP Natasha Mazzone: I am being sued by Eskom, Matshela Koko and Brian Molefe - you are using the same legal team suing me to do an independent investigation into Eskom. Minister Brown, we are being lied to, you are being lied to. The spin the Eskom board is putting on is cringey. Suspend this board with immediate effect.

23 May 2017

WATCH PROCEEDINGS LIVE ON NEWS24:


23 May 2017

ANC MP Mondli Gungubele: Pat Naidoo, you have confirmed what we thought that the Eskom board doesn't care about the impact of Brian Molefe's reinstatement (as CEO) on the integrity of Eskom. This is why an inquiry is necessary.

23 May 2017

Eskom board member Zethembe Khoza: I don't have any relationship with Oakbay. We supported the reinstatement of Brian Molefe based on his past performance and based on legal advice.

23 May 2017

Naidoo: Do I have a relationship with Oakbay? The answer is no.

23 May 2017

Naidoo: The process of advertising for the chief executive commenced (after Molefe resigned). The recruitment agency was appointed; we met with them; we received the short list. That process was halted when Minister Brown declined the R30m pension payout to Mr Molefe. We told them to put that process to put it on hold until we understood what to do.

23 May 2017

Naidoo: I did not know until the last minute and until I saw it in the press. We have no communication with the shareholder (Brown); all communication is via the chairperson.

23 May 2017

Naidoo: I heard that Brian Molefe had resigned from Eskom. We understood that Mr Molefe had left and he was gone. That was our understanding.

23 May 2017

Shivambu: Pat Naidoo, do you have any relationship with Oakbay?

23 May 2017

Committee slams Eskom board member Pat Naidoo for telling committee how "great he is". He has been told to answer the questions. Gordhan wants him to answer why he should not step down. The phrase "Tell us about Oakbay" was also muttered by one of the MPs.

23 May 2017

Naidoo: It is so important to grow the credit rating of Eskom. We should not hurt our credit rating. The fight of ours at various levels hurts this. As president of the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers, I was appointed to the Eskom board in 2014.

23 May 2017

Naidoo: Eskom is a massive operation - it is one of the world's best utilities. It has slipped a bit (since 1991), but it is going up there again to be the best in the world.

23 May 2017

Eskom board member Pat Naidoo: I grew up at Eskom. I spent 23 years at Eskom. With three years on the board, I have completed three decades at Eskom.

23 May 2017

Ngubane: We are not a bunch of idiots who want to be called board members of Eskom.

23 May 2017

Ngubane: Start the inquiry, take every recording of our board meetings, take all our minutes, take all our reports sent to Treasury - then cast judgment on the board. I know how hard this board has worked.

23 May 2017

Ngubane: After we signed the agreement of 10 years agreement to make up the gap between PIC and Transnet, the board in 2015 decided to buy him his 10 years. We bought him 10 years and therefore he could save his benefits in terms of his breakup in service. When he said he was using this option - it was given to our administrators, to HR. The pension fund board met and accepted his early retirement. They calculated what would be paid and it came to R30m. Even ourselves, we woke up to the fact that pension payout would be R30m. We met with Mr Molefe and he said his lawyers said his rights were protected as their was a signed agreement. With a lot of persuading, we agreed that we would rescind his agreement to retire. It is now up to the court to decide. We acted on the best advice the country's legal minds could give.

23 May 2017

Ngubane: When someone retires from an organisation, that person is out of the organisation and is free to do whatever they want to do. They can go to another employer.

23 May 2017

Ngubane: This whole thing about Brian Molefe. Once the minister expressed reservations, we asked our legal people to consult with lawyers to find the ultimate way to resolve the situation. We came a number of times to the minister with various scenarios. The only safe way to solve this thing is to cancel that early retirement agreement.

23 May 2017

Ngubane agrees with Gordhan, that the context is important: You will see the improvements of savings and Ebita at Eskom. Please, the board has worked very hard. South Africans must at least acknowledge that. I don't know why it's so easy to rubbish all that.

23 May 2017

Ngubane: Then Glencore came seeking higher costs for coal and Brian told them correctly to go fly a kite.

23 May 2017

Ngubane: We have independent auditors, which is why we have clean audits with minor audits. We found an organisation on the brink of collapse. The old chair and CEO of Eskom phoned the minister in December 2014 to say they could not pay salaries. That's when we came in. We brought in experts. That's when the minister agreed Brian should come to Eskom.

23 May 2017

Ngubane: We have written to Public Protector for information so we can do our own investigation.

23 May 2017

Eskom chairperson Ben Ngubane: We will welcome it (an investigation into Eskom) tomorrow.

23 May 2017

Brown: What I want to do with the inquiry is to lift all the issues so that the areas where investigations are needed take place so that we get all the matters into the public space.

23 May 2017

Brown: If you know of any untoward behaviour where board members or executive are actively involved in ensuring any particular corrupt activities happen, that should be reported.

23 May 2017

Brown: Did President Zuma instruct me (to bring Molefe back): You can all look into my eyes: no, I did not get an instruction to do that.

23 May 2017

Brown: Did President Zuma instruct me: You can all look into my eyes: no, I did not get an instruction to do that.

23 May 2017

Brown: Did President Zuma instruct me. When Eskom told me they were going to appoint Brian Molefe as the CE, or reinstate him, I told Jacob Zuma that. It is the norm. I went to the officials of the ANC and told them.

23 May 2017

Brown: I do want an investigation into procurement at Eskom. My department has already drawn out the terms of reference for it. We will have an investigation. At some point, we should do it with the SIU (Special Investigating Unit). It has to bring the other seven investigations that were never completed.

23 May 2017

Brown: Eskom is very important to this country because it generates electricity for the country. There is a question mark. Brian Molefe will never be cleared until there is an investigation into the state capture report. He can't clear himself.

23 May 2017

In an unprecedented move on Tuesday, former finance minister Pravin Gordhan accused Eskom of state capture while he climbed into Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown and Eskom chairperson Ben Ngubane.  
In an unprecedented move on Tuesday, former finance minister Pravin Gordhan accused Eskom of state capture while he climbed into Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown and Eskom chairperson Ben Ngubane.&nbsp;&nbsp;
FULL STORY: Gordhan launches shock attack on Eskom

23 May 2017

Brown: State owned companies can do much better.
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