Brian Molefe is returning to his job as chief executive of Eskom on Monday - barely four months after stepping down in the aftermath of a furore over his links to the Gupta family.

Board spokesman Khulani Qoma confirmed his return in an interview on radio 702 on Friday.

“Definitely‚ he is coming back on Monday‚” he said. Molefe has resigned as a member of parliament in order to resume his former position.

His return was sparked by a dispute over a reported R30 million pension payment that he was awarded after he announced in November that he was stepping down “in the interest of good corporate governance.”

The Sunday Times revealed that he was awarded the hefty “golden handshake” despite only being at the power utility for only 18 months.

Minister of Public Enterprises Lynne Brown said shortly afterwards that there was no justification for the payment.

Qoma said the Sunday Times story had resulted in Brown instructing the board to review the payout and come up with a mutually acceptable agreement. “We could not agree … so a decision was made to rescind the initial decision by the board for a pension payout.”

That effectively nullified his resignation and he would return to work on Monday‚ he said.
Listen to the interview confirming Molefe's return below:


This is a developing story.