EFF and DA admitted as interested parties in Molefe’s application to have dismissal set aside

The EFF and DA have succeeded in their application to be admitted as interested parties in former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe’s bid to have the Labour Court set aside his dismissal.

Molefe has been embroiled in a complicated working relationship with Eskom following his resignation from the entity at the end of December 2016.

The DA said Molefe’s application in the Labour Court was an act of desperation that sought to argue he was unfairly dismissed‚ jeopardising a pending review of his reappointment.

In a separate High Court matter‚ the EFF and the DA will argue that Molefe’s reappointment to the entity after he resigned and later claimed to have been on unpaid leave was unlawful.

“The two cases‚ the High Court application and the present application – are clearly intertwined. The relief sought herein has an impact on the relief sought in the High Court. An order declaring that the dismissal of Mr Molefe was unlawful‚ and that he is entitled to relief clearly impacts on the relief sought by the EFF in the High Court application‚” said the EFF in its submission to the court.

Meanwhile Molefe’s lawyers argued that there was a difference between a necessary joinder and those who did so as a matter of convenience.

“We submit neither the DA nor the EFF have the requisite legal right to demand that they be granted leave to intervene in what is effectively a private dispute between Mr Molefe and his employer‚” read his heads of argument.

Arguing for the DA‚ Advocate Paul Kennedy told the court on Tuesday: “The lawfulness of Mr Molefe’s reinstatement to Eskom is the very matter that is being challenged by the DA in a pending application before the high court. In its application‚ the DA sought interim relief pending Part B‚ in which it seeks an order to review and set aside the Minister’s decision to appoint and/or reinstate Mr Molefe to the position of GCEO.”

Judge Connie Prinsloo said she would release the reasons for her ruling at a later stage.

- BusinessLIVE