Solidarity wants court to intervene in Molefe matter

Johannesburg – Trade union Solidarity is seeking intervention from the courts to have the Eskom board’s decision to reinstate Brian Molefe as chief executive overturned.

The application was filed on Wednesday and follows a similar court bid by the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Front (EFF). The political parties want the judiciary to decide if Molefe’s reappointment was lawful.

READ: Eskom to face court case, two inquiries and board review

Solidarity’s deputy general secretary Deon Reyneke explained in a statement that it wants several decisions to be reviewed by the courts.

“We request that the court should review the decisions to approve a significant bigger pension payment to Molefe, to accept Molefe’s proposal to take early pension and the decision to reappoint Molefe in his position as chief executive of Eskom,” he said.

This matter is scheduled to be heard on June 21, 2017.

Newly formed South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) has also publicly opposed Molefe’s reappointment. General Secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi previously said that this decision to be reversed, and that the Eskom board should be dismissed.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) spokesperson Sizwe Pamla told Fin24 that the federation has not yet decided to take court action against the power utility. The federation will be having a five-day meeting next week to discuss several issues. He said that he could not speculate on further actions Cosatu would take regarding the matter.

The federation previously expressed its concerns over a possible R30m pension payout for Molefe. Pamla confirmed to Fin24 that Cosatu supported an independent inquiry into Molefe’s reinstatement.

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Fin24 reported that Parliament’s Portfolio Committee of Public Enterprises will investigate the state of affairs surrounding Molefe’s reappointment. Zukiswa Rantho, acting chairperson of the committee explained that the decision by the Eskom board is viewed as illegal.

“Mr Molefe's reappointment is seen as illegal by this committee and it will see it this way until proven otherwise,” she said.

“We want correspondence that shows the decision to reappoint Mr Molefe. We are not convinced as a committee.”

Former Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan who is now a permanent member of the portfolio committee on public enterprises, berated Eskom management over Molefe’s reappointment.

ALSO READ: Gordhan launches scathing attack on Eskom

This is not just one isolated incident of hiring, firing, retiring, or not retiring or maternity leave or otherwise. This is part of a pattern,” said Gordhan.

He requested that the board provide documents from the meetings where decisions were taken to let Molefe go, and then to rehire him. He also requested the audio tapes from these meetings for Parliament’s legal advisers to verify that they match the written minutes of the meetings. “Let’s have transparency,” Gordhan said.

Board chairperson Ben Ngubane said the inquiry was welcomed. He added that it was also up to the courts to determine the legality of Molefe’s reappointment in the pending case. “It is now up to the court to decide. We acted on the best advice the country's legal minds could give.”