{"id":175385,"date":"2017-05-16T14:12:04","date_gmt":"2017-05-16T12:12:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=175385"},"modified":"2017-05-16T14:12:04","modified_gmt":"2017-05-16T12:12:04","slug":"eskom-board-chair-responds-to-molefe-allegations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/energy\/175385\/eskom-board-chair-responds-to-molefe-allegations\/","title":{"rendered":"Eskom board chair responds to Molefe allegations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Claims that Eskom CEO Brian Molefe and the power utility\u2019s board chair, Ben Ngubane, pressured a minister to help the Guptas take over the Glencore coal mine was dismissed as \u201cpreposterous\u201d on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Ngubane who addressed the African Utility conference in Cape Town rubbished former mineral resources minister, Ngoako Ramatlhodi’s claims during an impromptu media briefing.<\/p>\n

“My office told me the minister claims that we forced him \u2013 he claims something that is impossible. We cannot tell a minister what to do, we take orders from ministers. We ask for help,” Ngubane said.<\/p>\n

“For a minister to now claim that we actually made him take a decision about something is preposterous.”<\/p>\n

Read: Damning report links Molefe to Gupta mine \u2018hijack\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ngubane also shrugged off calls by the ANC for the Eskom board to be dissolved<\/a>. He made it clear the board serves at the behest of those who appoint it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is an opinion. We are here to serve at government\u2019s pleasure. We made a difference. I am proud of the difference we made. We saved the country from blackouts.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also defended Molefe\u2019s reinstatement despite the backlash it evoked saying that state energy firm boss should get credit for saving the country from blackouts.<\/p>\n

“It is going to be for the good. He is going to carry on where he stopped – making electricity affordable for our people,” Ngubane said of Molefe’s reinstatement.<\/p>\n

Ngubane in his formal address told delegates this an opportune time to invest in the region in ways that ensure mutual benefits.<\/p>\n

Deputy minister of state enterprises, Ben Martins, also addressed delegates on behalf of government and stressed the importance of regional collaboration as key to securing energy supply and minimising costs.<\/p>\n

Martins warned the energy deficit in Africa is alarming \u2013 costing African economies between 2% and 4% of annual GDP.<\/p>\n

Both Ngubane and Martins steered clear of any comments on the status of South Africa\u2019s nuclear plans.<\/p>\n

\n

Read:\u00a0Only in a banana republic can Molefe be re-appointed \u2013 EFF<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Claims that Eskom CEO Brian Molefe and the power utility\u2019s board chair, Ben Ngubane, pressured a minister to help the Guptas take over the Glencore coal mine was dismissed as \u201cpreposterous\u201d on Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":89420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9874],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-175385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-active"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175385"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":175403,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175385\/revisions\/175403"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}