Minister Lynne Brown rejects former Eskom boss Brian Molefe's R30.1m ‘golden handshake

Minister of Public Enterprises Lynne Brown has blocked the R30.1 million pension payout received by former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe last month after spending just 18 months at the power utility.

On Sunday‚ the minister said she could "not support it" as there was no justification for this payout by the parastatal’s board to Molefe.

"I found the argument presented by the board on why the pension arrangement was conceived lacking in legal rationale and it cannot be substantiated as a performance reward because Mr Molefe has already been granted a performance bonus for his contribution to the turnaround of Eskom‚" said Brown.

• Numsa roasts Eskom over Molefe's R30 million windfallNational Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) leader Irvin Jim has berated Eskom for its parting payment of R30.1 million to former chief executive Brian Molefe‚ saying the parastatal must account for it. 

"Nor is the proposed pension payout justifiable in light of the current financial challenges faced not only by state owned companies (SOCs)‚ but by the country as a whole. I have in the past asked Eskom and the other five SOCs in my portfolio to demonstrate financial prudence and social consciousness when considering executive emoluments‚" added Brown.

Her remarks follow a meeting she had with Eskom chairman Ben Ngubane last Wednesday at the utility's head office in Johannesburg‚ following a recent Sunday Times expose.

• Eskom needs R634m to bridge ‘apartheid’ wage gapPower utility Eskom is scrambling to find R634 million to bridge the “apartheid wage gap” in which more than 50% of its employees‚ mostly black‚ are still paid less than their white counterparts. 

Brown said she has instructed the power utility's board to urgently engage Molefe and report back to her with an "appropriate pension" proposal within seven days.

The Sunday Times reported that Molefe walked away with a R30.1 million "golden handshake" even though he was at the power utility for only 18 months. He told the newspaper that he had been paid "what was due" to him but refused to give a figure.

Molefe resigned in November 2016 after being named by former public protector Thuli Madonsela in her "State of Capture" report.