Pay back the pension money, court tells Brian Molefe

Brian Molefe. Picture: Trevor Samson/BDLive

A full bench of the court ruled on Thursday that the "early retirement agreement" reached between the controversial former CE of Eskom and the company's board, including his subsequent reinstatement to the position, were unlawful and should be set aside.

Molefe, who is now employed by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), was also ordered to pay the legal costs of the applicants in the matter, Solidarity and the DA.

The application to review and set aside the decision of the Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown to reinstate Molefe, following his 2016 resignation from the company, was brought by Solidarity, the DA and EFF separately, but later consolidated.

The parties also successfully argued that Molefe should repay a portion of the R30.1m paid to him as an early retirement pension benefit after his resignation was rescinded.

Molefe has admitted that he was not eligible for the payout, but that he and the company's board and its pension fund had been mistaken about whether its rules could be relaxed to accommodate his early retirement claim.

Source: BDpro