ANALYSIS | Molefe put up quite a fight, but Myburgh knocked him out anyway

Former Eskom and Transnet boss Brian Molefe has completed his five-and-a-half-days-long testimony at the Zondo commission.

However, while he started on a high, cheered on by some, the end was humbling.

State capture commission evidence leader adv Anton Myburgh, who led testimony on Transnet while Molefe was in charge, had the last laugh in their three-day confrontation.

Their battle was akin to the match between undefeated and arguably one of the greatest boxers of all time, Floyd Mayweather, and hard-hitting but less tactically astute Marcos Maidana of Argentina in March 2014.

Maidana, nicknamed El Chino, started the fight like a house on fire, keeping Mayweather against the ropes for the opening four rounds of 12. What fired him up were the “Ole ole ole, Chino Chino Chino” chants by the Argentine contingent who dominated the stands.

In those early stages of the fight, many were convinced the mighty Mayweather had finally met his match. But, no, he hadn’t. Instead, it was a tactic to run his opponent out of steam before taking the fight to him when it mattered most.

This Mayweather did with clinical composure from the fifth to final round, completely outboxing the Argentine to win the fight comfortably on points.

And this is exactly what happened in the scrap between Myburgh and Molefe this week.

On Monday, Molefe was all over Myburgh and the noisy “RET Twitter” contingent was fully behind him. Molefe, on the day, was barely answering any of Myburgh’s questions. If he was not making political statements, he was mocking the evidence leader and apportioning blame to everyone but himself.

But Myburgh was patient, staying in the fight for as long as he could, knowing he could win in the closing rounds when his opponent had run out of gas.

And indeed, just like Maidana, by Tuesday Molefe was running out of steam, such that he had to ask commission boss deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo to pause the match because he was “exhausted”.

But on Wednesday, during the championship rounds, Myburgh went for the jugular in true Mayweather style, while Molefe had long dropped his guard.

This was the first time Molefe would repetitively respond “I cannot recall” to questions. It was also the first time he would take responsibility for things that went wrong under his watch at Transnet.

The time for gimmicks and flexing his flamboyance was over — the facts were staring him in the face and there was nowhere to hide.

The initial signs of Molefe being out were when he conceded blame for failing to seek ministerial oversight for the price escalation in the procurement of 1,064 locomotives by Transnet. Under Molefe, the organisation allowed the price for the trains to rise from R39bn to R54bn.

“Ultimately I am the CEO, chairperson, so I should take responsibility. However, none of these things were happening because it was a deliberate and intentional outcome ...” he said.

It was only going to get worse in the afternoon — the final piece of his testimony stood out for its “I have no recollection” responses.

The subject matter related to the testimony of “Witness 1”, who appeared in camera.

At the centre of that testimony were allegations that Molefe, during his days as a best friend of the Gupta family, was a baller, with large sums of cash most of the time.

Witness 1 told the commission he drove Molefe to the Gupta compound on several occasions. He walked in empty-handed, only to emerge with a loaded sports backpack.

What is your comment? Myburgh asked Molefe.

“I have no recollection of that. I cannot recall,” he replied.

What about Witness 1’s allegations that Molefe sent him to deliver a bag to Gupta-owned Sahara Computers in Midrand?

Molefe responded: “I have no recollection.”

He had the same response when it was put to him that Witness 1 had also fetched him from Bloemfontein airport, where he met Molefe with Ajay Gupta days after the ANC Mangaung elective conference in December 2012.

Witness 1 also informed the commission that he once saw Molefe’s backpack “half-full” with stacks of R200 notes at the Transnet offices in Johannesburg’s Carlton Centre.

“I have no recollection of that incident. I never carried cash like that,” he said.

And so Molefe wrapped up his testimony after a bruising three-day encounter with Myburgh.

The commission will hear testimony from Molefe’s successor at Transnet, Siyabonga Gama, and ex-CFO of the SOE Anoj Singh on Thursday.