By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The anti-corruption non-profit organisation, Corruption Watch has withdrawn its court application against former Eskom Chief Executive Officer Brian Molefe.
The case, filed in November 2018, sought court declarations that the implicated directors acted with gross negligence and breached their statutory duties.
Corruption Watch aimed to have Molefe and his co-accused, Mark Pamensky, Anoj Singh, Venete Jarlene Klein, and Zethembe Wilfred Khoza, declared delinquent directors under section 162(5)(c) of the Companies Act.
In a notice of withdrawal: “The Applicant withdraws the application under the abovementioned case number against the Fourth Respondent by agreement between the Parties, each Party to bear their own costs.”
Molefe served as Eskom acting CEO from April 2015 and was appointed permanently in September 2015, resigning in November 2016.
The NGO had also laid criminal charges against Molefe and former Eskom board chair Ben Ngubane,who has since died, relating to what the North Gauteng High Court called an unlawful pension scheme in which Molefe was awarded a multimillion rand pension.
In January 2018, a full bench of judges found that Molefe’s declaration that he had not resigned from the power utility was false, and he had never been entitled to the pension money.
Molefe was ordered to pay back the R11m he has already received.
The NGO further asked the Hawks to investigate other top Eskom executives, including Anton Minnaar, the power utility’s executive support manager, as well members of Eskom’s remuneration committee because they failed in their legal duty to disclose unlawful activities.
It said the specific charges come against the backdrop of state capture as outlined in former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s ‘State of Capture’ report.
Meanwhile the R405m Transnet consultancy fraud and corruption case has been transferred to the high court in Johannesburg.
The case involves Molefe, Singh and Siyabonga Gama, Regiments directors Niven Pillay and Litha Nyhonyha, former Transnet acting CFO Garry Pita, former group treasurer Phetolo Ramosebudi, Regiments Capital shareholder Eric Wood and his employee Daniel Roy, and Kuben Moodley, owner of Albatime.
They face charges arising from the locomotives transaction advisory tender awarded to the McKinsey-led consortium in 2012, resulting in the procurement of 1,064 locomotives worth more than R54bn.
The former Transnet executives and their co-accused are charged with contravention of the Public Finance Management Act and fraud, while some accused are charged with fraud, corruption and money-laundering.