'I did not anticipate the level of vitriol' - Brown on withdrawing her opposition to Molefe court case

Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown has withdrawn her opposition to a court application by the Democratic Alliance requesting that the reappointment of Eskom CEO Brian Molefe be set aside.

The shock announcement was made during a presentation by the minister to Parliament's public enterprises committee on Tuesday and follows public outrage about Molefe's reappointment.

The African National Congress has also asked Brown to rescind her approval of the reappointment.

• Full statement: Brown withdraws opposition to DA's Molefe casePublic Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown has withdrawn her opposition to a court application by the DA to have Eskom CEO Brian Molefe's reappointment set aside. 

Former finance minister Pravin Gordhan was present at the hearing.

Brown said she had submitted an affidavit to court‚ even though she had withdrawn her opposition as she believed her testimony would assist the court.

Her initial advice was to oppose the setting aside of the reappointment of Molefe as she had neither appointed nor reinstated him‚ and she had also been advised by the Eskom board that it had obtained legal advice by senior counsel on its handling of the matter.

"However‚ having had an opportunity to properly appraise the issues‚ I have decided that I will abide by the court's decision on the legality of Mr Molefe's return to Eskom‚" Brown said.

The minister said that when she was approached by the Eskom board on Molefe's reappointment she told board members that she would support it on the proviso that it was legal.

• Eskom needs the same treatment as SABC‚ says MP as committee grills BrownPublic enterprises minister Lynne Brown and Eskom chair Ben Ngubane were hauled over the coals in parliament on Tuesday as they explained the reappointment of Brian Molefe at the power utility. 

Regarding the second part of the DA's court application‚ namely the application for an interdict preventing Molefe from performing his functions as CE‚ Brown said she had reserved her rights.

She noted that the court would have to make a technical judgment on the Eskom memorandum of incorporation‚ two of which were relevant to Molefe's situation.

There are two versions - one of 2014 and one of 2016 - which have contradictory requirements relating to the minister's role in the employment agreement of CEs.

The 2014 memorandum did not require the minister's role in the employment agreement and this was used in the employment.

Brown insisted she had always understood that Molefe had resigned last year after the release of former public prosecutor Thuli Madonsela's report on state capture.

• READ IN FULL: Eskom affidavits on reinstatement of Brian MolefeEmbattled Eskom CEO Brian Molefe was considered to be on "unpaid leave" after his initial resignation from the power utility in November last year‚ according to court papers filed on Monday.  

"I was not aware that he had applied for early retirement. I only learnt that in April 2017 after reading in the media that Mr Molefe was receiving a R30m payout from Eskom."

She had asked Eskom to reach a more prudent deal.

Brown said while she had expected opposition to the reappointment of Molefe‚ she had been taken aback by the depth of the public outrage.

She said she had noted the concerns about the performance of the board‚ and had instituted an external evaluation of their performance ahead of the utility's AGM at end of June or beginning of July.

Eskom chairman Ben Ngubane said his hands were tied in terms of what he could say as he had been advised by legal counsel that the matter would be debated in court.

However‚ DA chief whip John Steenhuisen said Ngubane could not hide behind the sub judice rule and was obliged to account fully to Parliament on the "shenanigans" going on at Eskom.

- TMG Digital/BusinessLIVE