Polity.org.za Audio Articles

Brian Molefe, the former CEO of Eskom, has been directed to pay back just under R10-million, plus interest, to the power utility's pension fund.

This follows a drawn-out legal process that dates back to 2018, when the same court set aside all Molefe's pension payouts.

But the former Eskom boss did not pay back the money in the intervening four years, arguing that he didn't know what exact amount he needed to pay.

The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has now ruled that Molefe needs to pay the pension fund R9 985 540 plus interest calculated from 31 October 2019 up to the date he pays.

In a statement, the fund said that this brings the matter of what Molefe needs to pay to a close. "[The] ruling means Mr Molefe will have to pay back as directed by the court," it said.

The fund, meanwhile, will pay back Eskom the balance of the R30-million it had received from Eskom.

Molefe, who served two stints as Eskom's CEO, was initially ordered to pay back his pension by the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria in January 2018 in a case brought by trade union Solidarity and the DA.

"We find that Mr Molefe was never entitled to receive any pension benefits from the Eskom Pension Fund and the payments in lieu of such benefits were patently unlawful," the court ruled at the time.

The court also set aside the power utility's acceptance of Molefe's early retirement and the controversial decision to reinstate him as CEO.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Wednesday that while many young people tragically lost their lives recently at the Enyobeni tavern in East London last month, there are many more young people that must be saved from alcohol abuse.

Addressing mourners at the mass funeral for 19 of the 21 young people who died, he said it was a sad moment as parents were burying their children.

The children, aged 13 to 17, died under mysterious circumstances at Enyobeni tavern.

A team of doctors and pathologists, together with the South African Police Service, has ruled out a stampede as the reason for the deaths.

Ramaphosa sympathised with the parents and grandparents of the children who died, stating that in one night, 21 bright lives were snuffed out.

“We are here because these were not the children of East London, they are our children. We have the right to be here to mourn with the families. We are not here to judge for what they did, but to pay our condolences to the 21 children. Each one of them had a beautiful future ahead of them,” Ramaphosa told mourners.

Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane, National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, Cabinet Ministers and other government leaders were also in attendance.

“A tavern is not a place where underage children should be going to. It is a place for older people. These were young people full of lives, they wanted a place to meet with their friends and have a good time to celebrate the end of their exams. It is shameful that there are people who are blaming the parents and the young people who went there, [who] still do not know the details of their death. Let us allow the investigations to be concluded to bring peace to the families and justice to those that died,” continued Ramaphosa.

He said there is blame to be directed at those who are making money by selling alcohol to young children.

He stressed that what happened at the Enyobeni tavern was outside of the law and said it was time for all South Africans to draw the line and stop tavern operators who sell alcohol to underage children.

“We are losing future generations to the scourge of underage drinking,” the President said, and revealed that he had been approached to revise the legal drinking age to 21 years. He said there should be a national debate around the issue.

He urged the police to do more and the Eastern Cape Liquor Board to continue monitoring liquor licences.

The President called on the metro to create more recreational facilities in communities so that young people would not be forced to visit taverns.

“We need to become sober people,” he said, and pointed out that through anti-smoking laws, government was able to stop public smoking noting that action must be taken on alcohol by-laws.

Meanwhile, Police Minister Bheki Cele, who visited the tavern following the deaths, said the community had previously complained about the tavern.

He said the Liquor Board would have to answer on how people were issued liquor licences, and said parents must be involved in tackling such issues.

Cele said the municipality would also have to explain how they extended operating licences to liquor outlets.

The African National Congress's (ANC's) national executive committee (NEC) heard wide-ranging and spirited calls for intervention in response to the Eskom energy crisis, which ranged from the declaration of a state of emergency to immediately moving Eskom from the Department of Public Enterprises to the Department of Energy.

Sources who attended the NEC meeting, which began on Saturday and ended on Monday, noted that there was an acknowledgement that South Africa's energy shortages and ongoing rolling blackouts were a crisis.

"There were a lot of calls made by ANC leaders on how the government should respond to the crisis, and some people felt that there must be a state of emergency on the energy crisis, especially when you consider what this means for townships and other areas," a well-placed source who attended the meeting told News24.

However, the ANC NEC did not make concrete resolutions on the way forward in the energy crisis gripping South Africa.

"Others believed it was time that the Department of Public Enterprises was finally dismantled, and Eskom be moved to [the Department of] Energy. That is going to be a big debate at our policy conference, I can tell you," the source said.

At the NEC meeting, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan presented a report on the state of the power grid, which was described as "technical with very few solutions".

"He made the point that the problems at Eskom [are] very complex, with old power stations dying and the capacity of some power stations being insufficient," a second source in the meeting said.

Gordhan came under attack in the meeting for not coming up with solutions to the problems and his handling of the situation publicly. He is said to have raised the ire of some NEC members for blaming sabotage for the ongoing crisis, which has led to stage 6 load-shedding and unplanned blackouts across the country.

"People felt that if sabotage is to blame, then why not call on the security cluster to take action. What does he mean by sabotage? He then said that there has not been much support on the matter," the source said.

Gordhan has insisted that the ongoing power outages were the result of protests at power stations by striking Eskom staff, the intimidation of staff, and damage to Eskom infrastructure.

"The main point was that from the government, we look like we are not doing enough," the second insider said.

Gordhan was further grilled on the state of the Eskom board, which, sources said, was described as "invisible during the crisis".

"Questions were asked about the capacity of the board and the board chairperson, and Gordhan said he was working on the matter but wouldn't give us details."

In May, Gordhan said publicly that the government was reviewing the Eskom board and working on ways to strengthen it. No timelines were given.

At the NEC meeting, President Cyril Ramaphosa was said to have mentioned the need for serious interventions to deal with the matter, and its impact on the economy.

Cabinet was due to hold a special meeting on Tuesday to discuss the energy crisis, but a meeting on Wednesday was tipped to formalise a plan of action which will be presented publicly thereafter.

The Presidency has welcomed the recent court judgment clearing President Cyril Ramaphosa of any legal duty in the 2012 Marikana massacre.

However, it said on Tuesday that it was disturbed by the politicisation of the event, which has led to the unfair targeting and isolated allocation of responsibility to Ramaphosa.

Thirty-four mineworkers were shot by the South African police on August 16, 2012, with another 78 miners wounded and 275 arrested. Ten people, including six mineworkers, two Lonmin security officers and two policemen, were killed in the days leading up to the August 16 massacre.

The Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said others have sought to create the false impression that Ramaphosa bears liability for the killings.

In its judgment in the Sivuka V Ramaphosa case, the High Court agreed with Ramaphosa that the 359 miners who brought the case against the President and Sibanye had not established that Ramaphosa bore any legal duty in relation to the events that unfolded.

“The court rejected the plaintiff’s argument that certain email communications from Ramaphosa sought to call for the murder of the striking workers. The judgment stated that the plaintiffs’ argument against Ramaphosa ‘is not only far-fetched but also irreconcilable within the context of the email communication contents as a whole’,” Magwenya said.

The High Court also agreed with Ramaphosa that there was no basis for the allegation that collusion between him, government and police led to the deaths of the workers.

“The tragic events of August 2012 in Marikana that led to the death of 44 people remain one of the most distressing moments of the post-democratic era and a blight in South Africa’s contemporary history that will be forever etched in our hearts and minds. Ten years later our hearts still go out to families who lost their loved ones. The violence and the killings that occurred should have never happened. We are still resolute and united in our condemnation of the brutal acts we witnessed,“ Ramaphosa said.

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) have accepted Eskom's one-year 7% wage deal have signed an agreement to this effect.

This comes after a several-week deadlock in wage talks at the Central Bargaining Forum, which triggered protest disruptions at various Eskom plants and plunged the country into Stage 6 load-shedding for the second time in the power utility's history.

However, following an intervention from Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan, unions returned to the bargaining table last week Friday to resume negotiations.

NUM energy sector coordinator Khangela Baloyi told Fin24 that unions accepted the offer in principle and were on the cusp of signing an agreement at 14:00.

The news of an in-principle agreement comes even though Numsa demanded 12% and the NUM demanded 10% at the time of returning to wage talks.

It also comes despite at least one leaked internal document signed by union officials at branch level reflecting that workers looked to reject the 7% wage offer and would only accept a double-digit increase.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday that although the relevant authorities are working on ensuring there is justice for the Enyobeni tavern victims, citizens need to address the issue of under-age drinking.

Just over a week ago, in the early hours of a Sunday morning, 21 children were found dead in a tavern in the township of Scenery Park outside East London, the youngest child was only 13 years old.

Ramaphosa noted that the increased social acceptability of young people drinking alcohol had become a serious problem in a country where the majority of the drinking population are already classified by the World Health Organization as binge drinkers.

He said the footage and images posted online of the so-called ‘pens down’ party at the venue that night showed revelling youngsters clutching bottles of alcohol. Many of those in the images looked barely out of their teens.

“Even as the relevant authorities deconstruct what happened to ensure there is justice for the victims, there is a conversation we do need to have as a country. It is the problem of under-age drinking,” he explained.

Ramaphosa warned that alcohol use amongst adolescents was associated with impaired function, absenteeism from learning, alcohol-related injuries, suicidal thoughts and attempts, and risky behaviour.

He added that another reality is that alcohol is a form of escapism for young people in communities were opportunities for safe and age-appropriate recreation are few.

“We must come together to combat this vice that is robbing our young people of the best years of their lives and making them susceptible to alcohol addiction. As families it means having open and frank conversations about alcohol and setting boundaries. Children under the age of 18 consuming alcohol is against the law,” Ramaphosa said.

He said it was not the first time the country had been confronted with tragic events such as what happened in Scenery Park last week.

A common denominator between Enyobeni tavern, the Throb nightclub disaster in Durban in 2000, and the Osi’s tavern tragedy in Khayelitsha in 2015, is that these establishments were selling liquor to minors.

ENFORCING REGULATIONS ON ALCOHOL

The proliferation of establishments openly flouting the law points to failings on the part of authorities to enforce regulations.

“Under the National Liquor Act, owners of establishments with liquor licenses may not sell alcohol to anyone under the age of 18. They must also take reasonable steps to ensure anyone they are selling alcohol to is of age,” he said.

Ramaphosa called on communities to work with authorities to ensure that taverns, shebeens, entertainment venues and outlets breaking the law face consequences.

He further urged the police to step up the enforcement of laws that prohibited the sale of alcohol close to schools and enhance monitoring of outlets to ensure alcohol was not being sold to minors.

“Let us work together to protect our precious future generation from the ravages of alcohol and drug abuse and their effects. Let us work together to ensure that those who put profit before the lives of our children are not allowed to operate. Let us also set a positive example in our own relationship with alcohol,” he said.

Opposition party Congress of the People (Cope) opened a case of corruption and money laundering against David Mahlobo at the Lyttelton police station in Centurion, Pretoria, on Monday.

Cope deputy president Willie Madisha said the final Zondo Commission report had identified Mahlobo as a "key cog in the state capture project".

Madisha said that, according to the report, Mahlobo had "used his role as state security minister to fund projects that were meant to destabilise all parties opposed to the ANC and misappropriate taxpayer funds that could have benefited South Africans".

"Mahlobo ran projects, ran numerous off-the-book operations, and for all these operations to succeed, the money of taxpayers was used, and very many other people lost their lives who did not receive state aid as a result of monies being diverted.

"Another question that must be asked is why did he did this and who moved him, and we are therefore saying it's not only him, he was getting instructions both from the ANC leadership and Mr Zuma himself. I am saying this because it’s there in the Zondo report, and we are not just coming up with this from our heads," said Madisha.

The latest State Capture Inquiry report found that, under Mahlobo, dodgy state security officials had free rein, and ran rogue operations.

The report also found that there was a culture of poor vetting procedures in the State Security Agency, (SSA), and that large amounts of money had moved within the spy arena without proper scrutiny.

Zondo’s extensive report also detailed how some firearms distributed by the SSA were yet to be traced.

Madisha said, given the severity of the findings, his party would be pushing for the charges to be given urgent attention.

He added that, as an MP, he would also be approaching National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to request that all implicated parties be suspended pending an ad hoc committee investigation.

"We will be pushing for the suspension of all these people who are named in the state capture commission report. Those people include some ministers, including Minister Gwede Mantashe, former minister Mosebenzi Zwane, deputy ministers Mahlobo, Thabang Makwetla, and the president of the country.

"I will further propose that an Ad-Hoc Committee chaired by a retired judge be constituted to deliberate of the state capture commission’s findings," said Madisha.

He said all parties represented in the National Assembly should have one vote to ensure that the ANC did not use its majority to defeat the motion.

Despite numerous attempts, News24 was unsuccessful in its efforts to get a comment from Mahlobo.

Madisha revealed that Cope would also be laying charges against Zwane in the Free State later this week.

The African National Congress (ANC) will defend its cadre deployment policy – which has been branded unconstitutional and unlawful by the Zondo Commission – in court.

Last month, the Democratic Alliance (DA) brought an application to the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria and asked it to do just that – declare the policy unconstitutional and unlawful.

In the wake of the release of the final parts of the State Capture Inquiry's report, ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe was quick to point out that the finding was by a commission and not a court, as he defended the policy.

The DA's campaign against cadre deployment is headed by MP Leon Schreiber.

"Less than a week after ANC national chairperson, Gwede Mantashe, launched a verbal attack against the State Capture Commission's vindication of the DA's long-held stance that cadre deployment is unconstitutional and unlawful, the entire ANC has agreed with him by formally choosing to defy Chief Justice Zondo's recommendation that this practice be abolished," he said in a statement on Monday.

The DA has received the ANC's motion to oppose their application.

According to Schreiber, their case against cadre deployment is built on the same constitutional and legal foundation used by the Zondo Commission. He said the ANC's decision to oppose the application amounted to "open defiance of the Commission's findings".

"If the ANC were in any way committed to 'effecting the measures required to eliminate conditions and conduct that enable state capture and systemic corruption', the party would have supported the DA's case to proceed unopposed so that South Africa could be freed from cadre deployment corruption as soon as possible," Schreiber said.

"Instead, as they have done so many times before, Ramaphosa, Mantashe and the ANC have treasonously put party before country."

In the final part of his report, Chief Justice Raymond Zondo said that, by President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC's own admission, cadre deployment could be abused to facilitate corruption and state capture.

Examining the legal framework, he noted that the Constitution demanded a non-partisan public service.

"Appointments in the public service are governed by a number of laws and policies, most significantly the Public Service Act, which seeks to ensure that appointment processes are fair, effective and in line with the Constitution. If appointment decisions are not made within this governance regime, but rather made behind the closed doors of the party, these checks and balances are circumvented," read the report.

Zondo said that, if a party could decide appointments, it could abuse this power "to achieve ends which are not in the best interests of the country".

"What is said above makes it clear that within the current constitutional and statutory framework it is unlawful and unconstitutional for a president of this country, and any minister, deputy minister, director-general or other government official, including those in parastatals, to take into account recommendations of the ANC deployment committee or any deployment committee or any similar committee of any political party in deciding who should be appointed to a position in the public service or in organs of state or parastatals."

Responding about this finding to News24 at the time, Mantashe compared cadre deployment to affirmative action.

He also dismissed the finding as that of a commission and not a court.

"What is unlawful should be that, in 1994, every head of the department was white. That is really what is unlawful, but if cadre deployment, which changed this situation, is now deemed unlawful, then I do not know what unlawful is," he said.

Meanwhile, former ANC NEC member and long-serving finance minister Trevor Manuel called for the urgent abolishment of cadre deployment in a column for News24.

"Government does need to understand that the patience of the people has worn thin, and the Zondo Commission has brought so many misdemeanours into the public. We are entitled ...

Police say they have opened two cases of intimidation related to the unlawful strikes at Eskom, which the power utility has blamed for Stage 6 load-shedding.

"One was registered at Belfast Police Station while the other was registered at Hendrina Police Station. Both matters are still under investigation," said police spokesperson Colonel Athlenda Mathe.

"The SAPS has deployed its Public Order Police as police continue to closely monitor the situation at all Eskom sites that have been affected by the strike."

Eskom's leadership and Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, have said that intimidation of employees has contributed to significant staff shortages at power plants.

On Tuesday, the minister said that houses and cars of some managers had been targeted by petrol bombs. "In many power stations up to 90% of the staff could not attend to their duties."

While some employees started to return to work from Wednesday, Eskom has said that absenteeism and intimidation of working employees were still "rife".

"This has made it difficult to conduct routine maintenance and other operational requirements, which will further impact the reliability of generation units," the utility said on Thursday.

Eskom management and unions are set to return to the Central Bargaining Forum on Friday to resume wage talks.

Non-government organisations (NGOs) have condemned Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi’s attack on the Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF), calling on him to withdraw his statement and apologise to the foundation.

Freedom Under Law, Section27, Defend Our Democracy Campaign, Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, SERI and Corruption Watch said Motsoaledi had, unjustifiably issued “the most outrageous” public statement vilifying the HSF.

This comes after the HSF challenged Motsoaledi’s decision to terminate the Zimbabwe Exemption Permits at the end of the year.

He hit back by stating that South Africa was under the dictatorship of some NGOs, taking specific aim at the HSF by accusing it of racism.

NGOs are now calling on the minister to apologise for impugning the HSF’s integrity and patriotism.

“Essentially HSF asks that the minister reconsider a decision he took some time ago terminating, with effect from the end of this year, a special dispensation whereby people and their families have for more than a decade been allowed to live in South Africa,” the NGOs said.

The NGOs explained that HSF was not advocating for Zimbabweans to remain here. It was merely submitting that there was no adequate consultation with interested parties before the decision was made. HSF urged the minister to undertake the necessary consultation and then reconsider the issue.

“It would be wrong for us to express any opinion on the merits of the HSF case, but it is both grossly improper and unconstitutional for the minister to insult, threaten and attempt to intimidate the HSF. In our country, court cases are determined on their merits in duly constituted courts, not by public declarations,” the NGOs said.

It said while Motsoaledi’s threats and innuendos are ominous, they were not unprecedented.

“The undersigned representatives of civil society record their rejection of this crude attempt to subvert the Rule of Law. We call on the minister to withdraw his statement and apologise to the Helen Suzman Foundation,” it said.