CAPE TOWN - The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) said it welcomes the court judgement by the Pretoria High Court that the pension pay out to the former Eskom CEO, Brian Molefe was unlawful and he should repay the lot.
OUTA described the court's judgement as as another significant blow against state corruption. The organisation feels that the matter raises questions about conduct of the Minister of Public Enterprises, Lynne Brown.
OUTA mantains that Molefe must repay the full amount he received from the Eskom Pension and Provident Fund believed to be at least R10.327 million of the R30 million which Eskom tried to pay him.
The CEO of OUTA, Wayne Duvenage said in a statement, "We cannot accept that Minister Brown and the Eskom board members could condone this payout, let alone allow Mr Molefe’s reinstatement as the CEO in May 2016. This is a debacle which has made a mockery of the employment procedures and governance at this SOE".
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The judgment, written by Judge Matojane with Judge Fabricius and Judge Mphahlele included the comment, "What is most disturbing is the total lack of dignity and shame by people in leadership positions who abuse public funds with naked greed for their own benefit without a moment’s consideration of the circumstances of fellow citizens who live in absolute squalor throughout the country with no basic services".
"The judgment found that Molefe had indeed resigned, not retired. It also noted that the claims that Molefe hadn’t been able to accumulate pension benefits, which the board used to support the pension manipulation, were not true as he had significant earnings from various positions in state employment," OUTA said.
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"We trust this judgment will serve as a precedent and signal the beginning of the end of lucrative and fraudulent conduct of this nature within SOEs and the state as a whole," Duvenage concluded.