Brian Molefe, Third Time Unlucky, Over Eskom Pension Payout Appeal

Former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe has lost his third appeal regarding R11m he received from Eskom, part of a R30m pension agreement that was paid to him when he left the state-owned entity.

According to a statement issued by trade union Solidarity, one of the respondents in the matter, Molefe’s application for leave to appeal was dismissed for the third time with a punitive cost order.

Molefe’s lawyer, Barry Farber, declined to comment on Wednesday evening.

Eskom had paid out the monies to Molefe, following his resignation in November 2016. Molefe resigned after being implicated in Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s state capture report.

News of the pension payout only surfaced after his reappointment as group CEO in May 2017. Solidarity was among the parties which sought to have his appointment overturned by the courts.

Solidarity also approached the courts in November 2017 to declare the payout to Molefe unlawful.

In January 2018, the North Gauteng High Court ordered Molefe to pay back part of the R30m pension payout.

Molefe appealed the judgment, but this was dismissed in April 2018. Molefe then approached the Supreme Court of Appeal to review the decision of the high court, Fin24 previously reported. This too was dismissed, with costs, on October 5, 2018, Solidarity said in a statement.

Molefe then submitted a review application on November 1, which has now also been dismissed.

“Molefe is painting himself into a corner in an attempt to circumvent the law, and one can only hide behind court processes for so long,” said Deon Reyneke, Solidarity’s deputy secretary general for the energy industry.

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