The Eskom Pension and Provident Fund (EPPF) on Wednesday announced that it has paid the power utility R30 million related to the erroneous pension pay-out to former CEO Brian Molefe.
EPPF said it, “confirms that it has repaid the R30 million that was unlawfully paid to it by Eskom in relation to Mr. Brian Molefe’s pension matter”.
This is in line with the Pretoria High Court judgment of 4 July 2022.
The court ordered both the EPPF and Molefe to repay the irregular pension payout to Eskom.
However, Molefe has sought leave to appeal the decision and has not yet made repayment of nearly R10 million.
The appeal process effectively means that the EPPF must await the court’s final decision before it can seek to recover the money from the former Eskom boss.
The fund is opposing Molefe’s application to ensure that he adheres to the July court order.
The EPPF said the repayment of the R30 million to Eskom has not been in dispute so it complied with the court judgment.
“It is important to understand that the repayment was done in the best interest of our members to ensure compliance with the law,” explains Chief Executive and Principal Officer Shafeeq Abrahams.
“The Fund remains in a healthy position.”
Last week on Monday (29 August 2022), Molefe, a former Transnet CEO, was arrested along with Anoj Singh – the former Transnet CFO – and others in connection with massive corruption and fraud involving R398.4 million.
The massive fraud allegedly occurred when both men were at the helm of the state-owned enterprise.
Molefe and Singh are out on R50 000 bail each.
