Brian Molefe is a South African businessman. He was previously a political activist and politician. He is best known for his roles as the CEO of

Transnet Transnet SOC Ltd is a large South African rail, port and pipeline company, headquartered in the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg. It was formed as a limited company on 1 April 1990. A majority of the company's stock is owned by the Departmen ...

(2010-2015) and

Eskom Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom is a South African electricity public utility. It was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) and was also known by its Afrikaans name Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie (EVKOM). Eskom repre ...

(2015-2016) during the period of state capture in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

involving the

Gupta family The Gupta family is a wealthy Indian-born family with business interests in South Africa, whose most notable members are brothers Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh "Tony" Gupta—as well as Atul's nephews Varun, and US-based Ashish and Amol. The family ow ...

and former president Jacob Zuma. On 29 August 2022, Molefe was arrested on corruption charges linked to a R93-million corruption and fraud case into the purchase of locomotives for

Career

Molefe was involved in political activism between 1985 and 1994, when he joined First National Bank. The same year he joined the

Development Bank of Southern Africa The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) is a development finance institution wholly owned by the Government of South Africa. The bank intends to "accelerate sustainable socio-economic development in the Southern African Development Communi ...

. Between 1997 and 2003 he assumed a number of senior positions within the

National Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in ...

, including work on intergovernmental relations and asset management. During his tenure as the CEO of the

Public Investment Corporation The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) is a South African state-owned entity (SOCNational Government of South Africa''Public Investment Corporation SOC Ltd (PIC)'' on www.nationalgovernment.co.za) with R2.339 trillion (USD 145 Billion) o ...

from 2003 to 2008, he oversaw a growth in assets under management from R300bn to R900bn. He introduced shareholder activism at the PIC and advocated for the transformation of the South African Corporate sector to be more inclusive and representative of indigenous South Africans who had suffered under the policy of apartheid. He has also held the position of Deputy Director General in the

responsible for Assets and Liabilities Management. In this position, he was responsible for, amongst others, the management of sovereign debt. He oversaw a fundamental restructuring of South Africa's domestic and foreign debt portfolio between 2000 and 2003. Molefe was appointed as the CEO of

in February 2011, He oversaw the implementation of the market demand strategy which resulted in improved rail and port operations, which led to profitability during the 2013/2014 financial year. In 2015, he was appointed CEO of

to address

loadshedding A rolling blackout, also referred to as rota or rotational load shedding, rota disconnection, feeder rotation, or a rotating outage, is an intentionally engineered electrical power shutdown in which electricity delivery is stopped for non-overla ...

. He managed to temporarily end loadshedding, which did not recur until 2018. However, these reductions in loadshedding are partly attributable to decreased demand, due to weakness in the economy; prior investment coming online; and increased financial support from the state. In November 2016, Molefe resigned as CEO of

effective January 2017. On resigning, Molefe became further embroiled in controversy when he was illegally awarded a large pension fund payout by the Eskom pension fund. The Gauteng North High Court ordered Molefe to repay an amount of R10.3m, which he was not entitled to as per a retirement agreement. He unsuccessfully appealed this ruling to the Constitutional Court. The Eskom Pension Fund launched a court application in which it sought to have the R10.3m judgment enforced. In January 2017 Molefe was sworn in as a member of Parliament, but he resigned, effective, by 14 May 2017. He left to return to the role of CEO at Eskom, but

Lynne Brown Lynne Brown (born 26 September 1961) is a South African politician who is a former Minister of Public Enterprises and former Premier of the Western Cape Province. She was born in Cape Town and grew up in Mitchells Plain. She was appointed Premie ...

, the Public Enterprises Minister, rescinded the reappointment. In 2017 Molefe was briefly and controversially appointed as a Colonel in the South African Army Reserves.

Prosecution

On 3 August 2020 Eskom and the SIU jointly issued summons against Brian Molefe in a bid to reclaim R3.8 billion. Molefe raised no less than 30 exceptions to Eskom's plea. The matter is still to be heard by the North Gauteng High Court. On 4 January 2022, Part 1 of the

Zondo Commission The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State, better known as the Zondo Commission or State Capture Commission, is a public inquiry established in Janu ...

Report was published, and recommended that Molefe be investigated further. This after the previous public protector (

Thuli Madonsela Thulisile Nomkhosi "Thuli" Madonsela (born 28 September 1962) is a South African advocate and professor of law, holding a chair in social justice at Stellenbosch University since January 2018. She served as the Public Protector of South Africa ...

) and a parliamentary enquiry had made a similar recommendation. In Part 2 Volume 1 of the

Report, Molefe is identified as one of the “primary architects and implementers of State Capture at Transnet” during his tenure as CEO of Transnet. The report found that Molefe "facilitated the conclusion of irregular contracts at inflated prices, variously through deviations, improper confinements and the changing of tender evaluation criteria, in order to facilitate entry for companies involved in the extensive money laundering scheme" to the advantage of Gupta companies. The fourth part of the Zondo Commission report, released on 29 April 2022, recommended that Molefe be criminally prosecuted for his alleged involvement in corruption. Molefe was arrested on 29 August.

Educational qualifications

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA), known colloquially as Unisa, is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, U ...

(South Africa) – Bachelor of Commerce *

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

(United Kingdom) – Postgraduate Diploma – Economics *

(South Africa)- Masters – Business Leadership * Harvard Business School (Boston, United States of America – completed 2006) – Advanced Management Program

Awards

* Institutional Investor for the year (2008) – Awarded by Africa Investor Investments Awards * Empowerment Leadership Award (2007) – Awarded by Wits Business School/Barloworld Empowerment Awards * Newsmaker of the year (2006) – Awarded by Association of Black Securities and Investment Professionals * Investment specialist of the year (2004) – Awarded by Black Business Quarterly * Financial services achiever of the year (2003) – Awarded by the Association of Black Securities and Investment Professionals

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Molefe, Brian Year of birth missing (living people) Living people South African Tswana people African National Congress politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa South African chief executives South African military officers Controversies in South Africa Corruption in South Africa