BL Premium reports that Eskom has recovered the R30m unlawfully paid to its pension fund in 2016 for former CEO Brian Molefe’s benefit.

According to the state-owned power utility, the North Gauteng High Court in July reaffirmed a 2018 high court judgment that had reviewed and set aside an early retirement agreement between Molefe and Eskom in 2016. In terms of that agreement, Eskom paid about R30m to the Eskom Pension & Provident Fund (EPPF) to boost Molefe’s early retirement benefits. In July, Judge Norman Davis of the North Gauteng High Court confirmed the 2018 high court judgment that the pension fund should repay the money to Eskom. Molefe stepped down as head of Eskom in November 2016, just 15 months into the job, after being implicated in a report on state capture by former public protector Thuli Madonsela. As part of his early retirement, Molefe elected to receive one-third of his pension benefits as a lump sum. Those benefits were realised through a payment of R30m by Eskom to the EPPF. But in the 2018 judgment, the court set aside Eskom’s decision to accept Molefe’s “early retirement”, as well as its decision to reinstate him as CEO. Judge Davis also ordered Molefe to repay the pension fund R9.8m, comprising an initial lump sum of about R7.8m, plus pension payments he received up to October 2019 and taxes of R2m that the fund had paid to SARS. The EPPF confirmed in a statement that the R30m had been repaid, but said it had not yet received the payment of nearly R10m from Molefe as he has sought leave to appeal the decision.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Denene Erasmus at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
• Read too, Eskom recovers the R30m it 'unlawfully' paid to former CEO Brian Molefe, at Engineering News
• En ook, Eskom kry sy R30 miljoen terug, by Maroela Media

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