Victory in DA case to force Brian Molefe to repay “golden handshake” millions

7 August 2019

The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the Constitutional Court’s order that Brian Molefe must pay back, to Eskom, millions from the sometimes “pension”, sometimes “golden handshake” payout he received after leaving Eskom in 2017.

This comes after the DA challenged the Molefe payout in Court, and after many legal manoeuvers by Molefe, the Constitutional Court dismissed his final leave to appeal against the Pretoria High Court decision that he pays back part of the R30 million he received from the power utility.

Molefe’s outrageous attempts to have the High Court’s decision overturned was doomed from the start as he never deserved such an inflated “pension” payout in the first place.

His ridiculous insistence that his return to Eskom was not a reinstatement but a continuation of his contract, was untrue and an attempt to justify a blatantly inflated “golden handshake”, at a time that the Public Protector linked him to the Guptas Saxonwold Compound, followed by the notorious “Saxonwold Shebeen defence”.

The R11 million repayment is certainly not going to solve the debt crisis at Eskom, but it sets an important precedent nonetheless. This ruling is a significant moment in the fight against state capture as it shows that those who were involved or implicated in corruption are not above the law, no matter their political connections.

Molefe paying back part of the R30 million “golden handshake” will by no means exonerate him from the serious case of underperformance, mismanagement, corruption and capture against him. He still has a case for which he must answer, and must have his day in court.

The DA trusts that the Constitutional Court judgment will be the start of a much-needed process to recover the billions of rands from those who thought they could milk the state.

Issued by Natasha Mazzone, DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises, 7 August 2019