DA to lay charges against Molefe following his resignation

The DA welcome today’s decision by Brian Molefe, CEO of Eskom, to resign in the face of most serious revelations against him by the Public Protector.

The DA will accordingly be laying charges against Molefe in terms of the PFMA and Prevention and Combatting of Corruption Act.

The DA requested that Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises summons Molefe as a matter of urgency so that he can tell the truth to South Africa about his relationship with the Guptas, under oath.

It is suspicious that he has resigned after we began the process of getting him to come clean under oath in parliament. We furthermore see Molefe’s resignation as the first step in recovering Eskom’s damaged integrity - an important step in the right direction before the sovereign ratings decision at the end of the year.

Molefe’s is the first head to roll following the explosive ‘State of Capture’ report, in which he was implicated as one of various Zuma allies with ties to the Gupta family.

The ANC has long trumpeted Molefe as some sort of saviour from load-shedding, while all the while Molefe was putting the Gupta and Zuma families in the pound-seat, rather than rescuing Eskom, as exposed by the Public Protector.

Despite Molefe’s protestations to the contrary, his resignation ‘for the benefit of the public and Eskom’ can be seen in no other light than that of an admission of guilt.

We further hope that if Molefe hosts his farewell party at the Saxonwold Shebeen, he could reveal where its mysterious location lies.

The DA will continue to expose the capturers of our state and will ensure accountability for those who are involved in the Zuma-Gupta mafia .

In line with the binding remedial action of the Public Protector, we trust that the President will soon begin the work of the judicial commission of enquiry into State Capture so that South Africa can know the full truth behind Molefe’s dealings with the Gupta family.

Statement issued by Natasha Mazzone MP, DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises, 11 November 2016