Johannesburg - Former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe filed papers on Wednesday asking the Supreme Court of Appeal for leave to petition against a high court judgment that ordered him to pay back R11m received from Eskom's pension fund.
His latest action comes after the North Gauteng High Court ruled on Thursday that Molefe has 10 days to pay back about R11m he has received from the power utility, as part of a R30m payout.
The full bench of judges - which included Judge Elias Matojane, Judge Hans Fabricius and Judge Segopotje Mphahlele - found Molefe’s declaration that he had not resigned was false, and that he was never entitled to the pension money. Molefe's lawyer Brian Farber described the ruling as "coming down like a ton of bricks."
Molefe argued in his application for leave to appeal that the applicants - the Democratic Alliance and trade union Solidarity - did not satisfy the test for final relief, and that the high court erred in its order as a result. Solidarity first approached the high court on November 29 2017 to declare Molefe's controversial pension award of about R30m, as well as the more than R10m already paid out to him, unlawful.
Molefe also stated that the court erred in ruling that he had resigned, and that Eskom admitted under oath that his departure from the power utility was "pursuant and linked to the early retirement agreement concluded with Eskom".
Molefe also stated that Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown's first affidavit showed she had understood that he had not resigned "unilaterally".
"The minister's attempt to change her evidence in her subsequent affidavit must be regarded as opportunistic and unconvincing, and should not be accepted by the court," he said.
After the judgment, Solidarity said it believed Molefe could also face possible criminal charges. The union's chief executive Dirk Hermann told Fin24 its next step would be to pursue criminal charges against Molefe.
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