Eskom CEO Brian Molefe was just the first head to roll following the Public Protector report into state capture – though it’s not a good thing, nor does it solve the deeply rooted rot at the power utility.<\/p>\n
This is according to Nomura market analyst, Peter Attard Montalto, commenting on the announcement by Molefe that he has resigned from the role CEO, and will step down effective 1 January 2017.<\/p>\n
According to Attard Montalto, Molefe is the “fallen angel” for investors, coming out of Transnet as a hero, and now implicated in grand corruption and rent extraction within the Public Protector report.<\/p>\n
“Put simply, he had no credibility left after the report – regardless of the allegations being proven or not,” the analyst said.<\/p>\n
“In a way it’s sad, in a way its not. He ultimately was successful because he could navigate the patronage realities of the ANC, but it has caught up with him.<\/p>\n
“We need to understand, however, that the rot in Eskom goes much deeper – the whole board needs to be replaced and there are many others there also implicated in the PP report.”<\/p>\n
In his statement, Molefe said that the accusation laid against him – that he was ‘captured’ by the Gupta family, and had helped their mining business extract almost R1 billion from National Treasury to further their goals – was not true.<\/p>\n
He maintained that the Public protector report had unfairly painted him as corrupt, without giving him the chance to respond.<\/p>\n