Corrupt‚ me? Impossible! Ben Ngubane rubbishes ex-minister's Gupta claims

16 May 2017 - 15:34 By Farren Collins
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
Believe me: Ben Ngubane, Eskom chairman, speaks at the media briefing at Eskom’s head office, Megawatt Park, in Sandton.
Believe me: Ben Ngubane, Eskom chairman, speaks at the media briefing at Eskom’s head office, Megawatt Park, in Sandton.
Image: FREDDY MAVUNDA

Eskom chairman Ben Ngubane says it is “impossible” that he and CEO Brian Molefe could be implicated in an alleged corrupt coal deal within the parastatal.

Ngubane was responding to claims on Tuesday by former mineral resources minister Ngoako Ramathlodi‚ who reportedly said the two men tried to force him to suspend the mining licences of coal supplier Glencore so the Gupta family could buy the Optimum coal mine from them.

  • Molefe ducks Cape Town conference as new Gupta allegations emergeEskom CEO Brian Molefe skipped the opening of African Utility Week on Tuesday amid growing opposition to his reappointment. 

“He thinks something that’s impossible‚” Ngubane told journalists after speaking at the opening of African Utility Week at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

“We can’t instruct a minister what to do. We take our problems to the minister [and] we ask for help. For the minister to claim that we made him take a decision about something is preposterous.”

  • Molefe implicated in Gupta coal mine 'hijack'South Africa’s former mineral resources minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi has accused Eskom chief executive Brian Molefe and chairman Ben Ngubane of helping the Gupta family “hijack” a coal mine. 

Molefe was reinstated as Eskom CEO on Friday after he left the post in November following a damning State Capture report by former public protector Thuli Madonsela which linked him to the Saxonwold-based Gupta family.

Ngubane said Molefe had chosen to take early retirement in the wake of the report last year‚ and that he had tried to talk him out of it.

“After the public protector report he decided to exercise his early retirement option. I [tried to] persuade him that it would be disastrous for the company. [But the] board accepted it.”

  • Bromance much? Ngubane shows love for Molefe and his exploitsIt’s not surprising that Eskom chair Ben Ngubane is “absolutely delighted” to welcome back the utility’s former chief executive Brian Molefe - he has steadfastly cheered and defended him through all his sagas. 

Following Molefe's reinstatement‚ the ANC called for the Eskom board to dissolved and the decision overturned. Ngubane said that was “their opinion”‚ and the board was there to “serve at the government’s pleasure”.

Molefe was down as keynote speaker at the energy conference‚ where the SACP mounted a protest about his reappointment‚ but Ngubane said that he was attending to other “urgent matters” and was not “scared” to be there.

“[The minister] is carrying on where he stopped: making affordable electricity [available] to the people by paying back government guarantees‚ generating enough revenue [and] creating savings through efficiencies.”

WATCH Ngubane explain the deal between Eskom and Gupta-owned Tegeta Mines:

subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now