Matona’s suspension from Eskom ‘paved the way’ for Brian Molefe, Zondo hears – the Citizen

Former Eskom CEO Tshidiso Matona told Supreme Court Vice President Raymond how he was suspended from the electric power company without committing any crime, including how he took to Labor Court where his suspension was found to have been unfair.

Matona testified about how he deemed it appropriate to simply cut his losses, following his suspension in March 2015, and accept a twelve-month severance pay from the company.

He explained how even after the labor court ruling, when the matter was before the Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration Commission (CCMA), he had hopes of getting his job back, even though Eskom was not open to the idea.

He said that even after going to CCMA, Eskom would only be willing to “make a deal” with Matone and that he would not be able to return to work. This was the opinion of the board of directors and shareholders, which at that time was the public companies department.

It was then that Matone decided not to go ahead with the matter, as it would be fruitless, so he would prefer to settle the matter with a 12-month severance pay.

Matone maintains that he had done nothing wrong, with an investigation corroborating this fact.

Zondo asked if Matona could ever establish why the board did not want to work with him, to which he replied that he could not establish an exact reason.

His own inference in this regard was that there were interventions from outside parties, possibly to make way for other people to fill key positions in the power company.

Mentioning his successor Brian Molefe, Matone said he had no facts to back up the claim.

Matone was coincidentally replaced by Molefe, who left Eskom under a cloud of corruption in late 2016 when he was implicated in irregular dealings with the Gupta family’s Tegeta Exploration.

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