Brian Molefe is a South African businessman and business executive. He was elected as a member of the National Assembly, representing the

UMkhonto we Sizwe uMkhonto weSizwe (; abbreviated MK; ) was the paramilitary wing of the African National Congress (ANC), founded by Nelson Mandela in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre. Its mission was to fight against the South African government to brin ...

, in the

2024 South African general election General elections were held in South Africa on 29 May 2024 to elect a new National Assembly (South Africa), National Assembly as well as the Provincial legislature (South Africa), provincial legislature in each of the Provinces of South Africa, ...

. Molefe rose to prominence during his tenure as the CEO of the Public Investment Corporation, heading the secretariat as CEO at the beginning of the corporatisation of the PIC in 2003 through 2010, leaving the organisation with

assets under management In finance, assets under management (AUM), sometimes called fund under management, refers to the total market value of all financial assets that a financial institution—such as a mutual fund, venture capital firm, or depository institutio ...

of R900bn at the expiry of this contract. He was previously a political activist and politician. He is best known for his roles as the CEO of the Public Investment Corporation (2003 –2010), 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 Department ...

(2010 –2015) and

Eskom Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom is a South African electricity public utility. Eskom was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) (). Eskom represents South Africa in the Southern African Power Pool. The utility is the larg ...

(2015 –2016). On 29 August 2022, Molefe was arrested on

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

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 Communit ...

. Between 1997 and 2003 he assumed a number of senior positions within the National Treasury most notably as a DDG (Deputy Director-General), 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 (SOC) with R2.693 trillion (USD 142 Billion) of assets under management as of 31 March 2024. It is Africa's largest asset manager. Established in 1911, it hold ...

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 National Treasury 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-over ...

. 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, the Public Enterprises Minister, rescinded the reappointment. In 2017 Molefe was briefly and controversially appointed as a Colonel in the South African Army Reserves. Former transnet executives Brain molefe and Siyabonga Gama were sworn in as MPs for Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, along with his longtime associate Mzwanele Manyi and former Prasa chief executive Lucky Montana.

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, was a public inquiry established in Ja ...

Report was published, and recommended that Molefe be investigated further. This after the previous public protector ( Thuli Madonsela) 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. Former eskom CEO Brian Molefe is in a stand up committee meeting https://www.news24.com/fin24/opinion/carol-paton-the-tragedy-and-the-farce-of-brian-molefe-20240910

Educational qualifications

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (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, UNISA has over 400,000 student ...

(South Africa) – Bachelor of Commerce *

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

(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 2024–2029 South African chief executives South African military officers Controversies in South Africa Corruption in South Africa UMkhonto we Sizwe politicians