ANC agrees state will resolve Molefe issue‚ says Brown

Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown says a meeting held with ANC officials about the reappointment of Eskom Group CEO Brian Molefe agreed that government will resolve the matter.

This was despite ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe telling News24 that the ANC had called on Brown to rescind Molefe’s reappointment.

Mantashe reportedly said that Brown had been told that her decision would lead to court action.

• ANC demands that Molefe be axed from EskomJust days after he danced a joyous jig during a rapturous welcome back to Eskom‚ Brian Molefe's position at the helm of the parastatal appears to be in doubt. 

The minister was "in discussion with President Jacob Zuma and his deputy Cyril Ramaphosa on the matter"‚ Brown’s spokesman‚ Colin Cruywagen‚ said. "The meeting agreed that the government must resolve the matter."

Molefe returned to his position at the state-owned utility on Monday morning after leaving amid controversy in 2016‚ after the release of former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s State of Capture report.

• Oakbay not in position to comment on Optimum ‘hijack’ claimOakbay Resources was not in a position to comment on allegations contained in an article titled “How Brian Molefe ‘helped’ hijack Optimum". 

Following the announcement of his return last week‚ the ANC said the move was reckless and fed into the perception that the government was not serious about tackling corruption.

The party summoned Brown to Luthuli House on Monday to explain the decision. It is understood that the deployment committee‚ headed by Ramaphosa‚ was not consulted.

• Ngubane warns of power cuts unless Treasury signs Eskom coal dealsSouth Africa was warned on Tuesday of winter power cuts unless the National Treasury urgently signs purchase agreements so Eskom can build up its coal reserves. 

Brown’s decision to endorse the Eskom board’s move to return Molefe to the post has been widely criticised — by the ANC‚ opposition parties and business — and is now the subject of court action by the DA.

– TMG Digital/BusinessLIVE