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For Loyiso Sidimba 
4h ago
Johannesburg – President Cyril Ramaphosa will wait for former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe to finalize his statement to the commission of inquiry into the capture of the state before responding to damaging claims made against him.
The leader of the evidence, Pule Seleka, told the commission Wednesday that Ramaphosa did not respond to the notice of rule 3.3 informing him of the allegations that Molefe made against him during his time as a shareholder and president of Optimum Coal Holdings, when the company It was still owned by mining giant Glencore.
Later, Ramaphosa headed the war room of the administration of former President Jacob Zuma on the problems of Eskom.
Seleka said she received a message from Ramaphosa’s office that they had decided to wait until Molefe had fully testified before submitting their response.
“We have not received anything from the president yet,” he said.
During his testimony on Tuesday, Molefe’s defender, Thabani Masuku, asked the commission to investigate allegations made by his client, including why the penalties issued by Eskom to Optimum Coal for supplying substandard coal were not pursued. for the electric company and why its officials were so indifferent when it came to pursuing the interests of the state entity.
The commission has also asked that the statement by a former senior Glencore official, who denied that Ramaphosa was ever president of Optimum Coal, be submitted as an affidavit under oath.
Clinton Ephron, former CEO of Glencore’s coal business in South Africa, director of Optimum Coal Holdings and Optimum Coal Mine, told the commission that Ramaphosa had no direct involvement in the day-to-day operations of both companies in the period from 2012. to 2014 and he never presided over both companies.
On Wednesday, Molefe said Ephron questioned Ramaphosa being the president of Optimum Coal when there is sufficient evidence that the president previously held this position.
However, Molefe featured three news articles and an announcement by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange news service about Ramaphosa’s appointment as president of Optimum Coal.
He said he found it very strange that even Ephron’s first statement to the commission was not under oath.
The president of the commission, vice president of the Supreme Court, Raymond Zondo, requested that the announcement and the articles referred to by Molefe be presented as annexes.
Judge Zondo warned that the commission cannot keep track of everything because it does not have time.
”We cannot follow up on things whose relevance and importance is not clear. The commission must be satisfied that we use the time that we have left in an optimal way, ”he said.
Molefe said it would be interesting for the commission to find out whether the Glencore issue and its coal supply agreements with Eskom were ever discussed when Ramaphosa presided over the war room.
The former CEO of Transnet and Public Investment Corporation continues to give testimony Wednesday afternoon.
Political Bureau
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