Gordhan's back... and Eskom knows it

Former finance minister Pravin Gordhan led the roasting of the Eskom board and Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown yesterday over the reappointment of Brian Molefe.

In his maiden appearance in the public enterprises committee as an ANC backbencher MP, since his axing in March, Gordhan lashed out at the Eskom board, saying its explanations regarding the controversial decision to reappoint Molefe as CEO simply lacked credibility.

The meeting was called to discuss the decision to rehire Molefe earlier this month even though he had resigned from the position to take up a job as an ANC MP.

• He resigned. He retired. No‚ he was on unpaid leave – the desperate attempt to explain Molefe’s reinstatementGovernment‚ Eskom and the parastatal's board seem to be involved in a game of twister as they desperately try to explain away Eskom's CEO Brian Molefe's departure and now subsequent return. 

In a tense four-hour meeting, Brown and the Eskom board, led by chairman Ben Ngubane, struggled to justify Molefe's return in the face of sharp questions from ministers.

Gordhan said the board had failed the country: "The questions are aplenty, the answers are all over the show, they lack credibility."

Gordhan said the Eskom board was living "in oblivion" given the kind of answers they were expecting the public to accept on the Molefe saga.

• It's perjury! ANC asks government and parliament to act over MolefeThe African National Congress on Tuesday lashed out against Eskom over representations made in Parliament today over the reinstatement of Brian Molefe as Chief Executive Officer of the power utility‚ labelling it perjury. 

The board's reasons had, so far, been contradictory, ranging from "retrenchment", "resignation" and "retirement"; the latest was that he had been on unpaid leave even though he took the oath of office as an MP during that period.

"I don't know if the board is living in a sort of oblivion but the public is connecting the dots. Increasingly, the public is becoming aware of what you are doing or not doing as members of the board.

"They're increasingly becoming aware that you are abusing state property and state resources in the name of yourselves not in the name of the Republic of South Africa . That you're part of a conspiracy to capture Eskom for the benefit of a few and that's the reality, let's not hide behind technicalities," Gordhan said.

• Gordhan grills Eskom board in parliamentFormer finance minister Pravin Gordhan grilled Eskom board members on Tuesday as the state company’s directors appeared in parliament to explain the reappointment of Brian Molefe. 

The ANC said "the incoherent version" that Molefe had never resigned from Eskom but rather was on unpaid leave was a contradiction of statements by Molefe and Brown previously.

"Not only are these latest developments disingenuous to say the least, they amount to perjury. The ANC calls on the government and parliament to act decisively to deal with this irrational and untenable situation."

MPs from across the political spectrum expressed shock at Eskom's decision, arguing it was inconceivable that the power utility's nonexecutive directors were prepared to do reputational harm to Eskom, "all because of one man".

But this did not sit well with a visibly angry Ngubane, who hit back saying the board had been able to turn around the finances of Eskom with the help of Molefe.

He said this was why Eskom wanted him back despite the job having been advertised after his resignation.

"I will defend this board up to the end, because I know how hard we've worked," Ngubane said.

But the ANC's Mondli Gungubele told Ngubane, who is also the former chairman of the SABC, that this showed his "blasé" attitude as chairman of the board.

The committee has resolved to hold a full inquiry into the affairs of Eskom, including Molefe's reinstatement.

DA chief whip John Steenhuissen asked that members of the Gupta family and Molefe be included on the list of witnesses to the parliamentary inquiry, due to start in about 21 days.

The ANC said Eskom's submission before parliament amounted "to perjury".

The ANC called on the government and parliament "to act decisively to deal with this irrational and untenable situation, said spokesman Zizi Kodwa.

Political analyst at the Institute for Security Studies Judith February said the meeting was extraordinary. "It was extraordinary that Gordhan as an ordinary MP put such overt questions to the Eskom board, for instance about their possible relationships with Oakbay. His questions were pointed," she said.

"The board should resign and unfortunately it is not good enough for Brown to shift blame to the board. She exercises oversight over it and should fire the board and she ought to have suggested they not reinstate Molefe."

Political analyst Aubrey Matshiqi said: "There is a symbiotic relationship between what is happening in parliament and what is happening in the ANC, to the extent that the antipathy towards Zuma is beginning to find stronger expression both within the ANC and parliament. Importantly, we are inching closer towards the vote of no confidence debate in parliament.

"The question is whether what we saw today is a reflection of the possibility that some will break ranks with the ANC when the time for the vote comes."

- Additional reporting by Graeme Hosken