Brian Molefe Eskom

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – MAY 30: Eskom CEO Brian Molefe during a meeting with Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) on May 30, 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa. The Eskom delegation appeared before Scopa to explain how coal contracts were awarded to the Gupta-linked Tegeta company. (Photo by Gallo Images / Sowetan / Esa Alexander)

The DA wants Brian Molefe to pay back his R30 million pension

In this edition of #PayBacktheMoney – it’s former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe who is getting dragged.

Brian Molefe Eskom

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – MAY 30: Eskom CEO Brian Molefe during a meeting with Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) on May 30, 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa. The Eskom delegation appeared before Scopa to explain how coal contracts were awarded to the Gupta-linked Tegeta company. (Photo by Gallo Images / Sowetan / Esa Alexander)

So, we know pension is a complicated matter. But we bet your pension isn’t as complicated as this.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Wednesday told the High Court in Pretoria that the R30.1 million pension granted to former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe was unlawful, ANA reported on Wednesday.

The party wants him to #PayBackTheMoney.

“He told the whole nation and the minister [Public Enterprises … Minister Lynne Brown] that he was departing because there was a cloud over his head. He didn’t tell anyone that behind the scenes he was trying to get this vast amount of money,” Advocate Paul Kennedy SC argued on behalf of the DA.

A full bench of High Court judges heard the case on Wednesday.

The DA wants the court to give a declaratory order, forcing Molefe to pay back his pension payout.

“He has acknowledged that he was not entitled to get any money under early retirement,” said Kennedy.

Luckily for this edition of #PayBackTheMoney, according to eNCA, Molefe concedes his early retirement deal was unlawful and agrees he should pay back the money.

Despite all of this, Molefe still insists that he should be reinstated as Eskom’s CEO saying it was just an honest mistake when his early retirement was agreed upon.

He is adamant that he was granted early retirement – despite publicly announcing he’d resigned, a day after being implicated in Thuli Madonsela’s State of Capture report.

But the case is about more than just the money.

Earlier this year, Scorpio, the Daily Maverick‘s investigative unit, revealed that Molefe started planning the feathering of his retirement nest at least as early as a year before, in November 2015 – two months after he was employed by Eskom on a fixed five-year contract.

Buckle up, it’s going to be a long ride.