Molefe tells Zondo: ‘Don’t sweep Ramaphosa’s doings under the carpet’

Former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe has warned the State Capture Commission against attempting to cover up testimony that may be damning for President Cyril Ramaphosa.

 “The fact that that was not mentioned while we were recapping that was not mentioned, I hope that it is not being swept under the carpet and being forgotten conveniently. Just to make sure chairperson that it did register and has a certain amount of weight that it attached because Glencore and Optimum are at the centre of all the files that are behind me,” he said to the commission’s chairperson Raymond Zondo.

When he first appeared before the state capture commission in January, Molefe said there was a conflict of interest on Ramaphosa’s part, as he had been appointed chairperson of government’s Eskom war room while at the same time, being a shareholder at Glencore, which does work with the state-owned entity.

“When the Glencore deal was done in 2012 and he bought shares, he was made chairperson. In 2014 he became deputy president of the country and chairperson of the war room,” he said.

Zondo: Witnesses implicated in Brian Molefe’s testimony to respond

Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo then responded to Brian Molefe and said he was surprised that he thought Ramaphosa’s implication would be swept under the carpet, given the fact that his testimony was made in full view of the entire country.

“You know from your own experience that when a witness says something that implicates somebody, in terms of the rules of the commission, that person is given a copy of their statement so that they have a chance to respond. So I didn’t expect you to think that it would be swept under the carpet,” Zondo said.

He then told Molefe that everyone he had implicated that day at the commission, had been given a chance to respond.

Essentially, Molefe accused the president of using his political influence to promote the interests of Glencore.

“One would have expected that, as corporate governance requires, there must be a cooling off period. He is a person who has been saying we must renegotiate effectively a R8bn move and becomes the de facto chairperson of Eskom,” Zondo said.

Ramaphosa has responded to Molefe’s allegations and was quick to deny them. He accused Molefe of attempting to tarnish him.

“I think there is a level of untruth in saying I got shares because I wanted to advance the interests of Glencore, It’s far from the truth – people will say things to tarnish either people,” Ramaphosa said.