Business Report writes that former Eskom boss Brian Molefe will have to pay back the power utility R10 million of a R30m golden handshake he received when he resigned from the state-owned company after his last-ditch attempt to keep the money was dealt a fatal blow by the Constitutional Court (ConCourt).  

As the ConCourt is the apex court in the land, Molefe will have to comply with the order.  Trade union Solidarity, which opposed Molefe’s numerous appeals, last week said it would immediately institute action to collect the cost order and to ensure the R10m Molefe received from the Eskom Pension Fund was paid back without delay.  Solidarity chief operating officer Dirk Hermann reacted to the news:  “We are delighted with the ruling.  One can only hide in the courts up to a certain point, but the law always prevails.  It is sad that the courts have to take over the role of a person’s conscience.  Solidarity knows its way about the courts and Brian Molefe underestimated us.  We will not let injustice happen.”  Molefe has also been ordered to pay the lion’s share of Solidarity’s legal fees.  Hermann added that the ConCourt ruling opened the door for the union to pursue criminal proceedings against Molefe.  Wayne Duvenage of the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) also commented:  “We always maintained that he (Molefe) did not qualify for such an exuberant amount in the short time he spent as Eskom’s employee.”

• Read the full original of the above report by Kabelo Khumalo at Business Report
• Read Solidarity’s press statement in the above regard at SA Labour News

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page