Johannesburg – The South African Communist Party has called on its alliance partner the African National Congress to act in order to ensure the decision by the Eskom board to reappoint its former CEO Brian Molefe as its chief executive is reversed.

News broke on Friday that the former disgraced CEO had resigned from his position as a member of parliament and was headed back to Eskom to serve in his old position as from Monday.

Molefe spent less than four months in the national assembly, appointed under severe scrutiny and concerns from some, including the SACP that he was being positioned for the top post in the country’s treasury, but President Jacob Zuma in a shock midnight cabinet reshuffle appointed former home affairs minister Malusi Gigaba to the position instead.

Molefe resigned after being implicated in a state of capture report by former public protector Advocate Thuli Madonsela. Her investigation was looking into claims that the Gupta family has undue influence over the president and had a say in the making of key decisions such as the appointment of ministers and operations in some of the country’s state owned enterprises.

“We are shocked but surely not surprised Brian Molefe is returning to Eskom because we understand the decadence that is at Eskom in terms of the board leadership that has done all good things to try and shield Molefe,” said SACP deputy general secretary Solly Mapaila.

Sharing his thoughts with journalists’ just hours after the news broke, Mapaila said Molefe was part of a “disruptive agenda.”

“When he went to parliament the intention was to make him minister of finance and when that didn’t work, he had to come back to fulfill his mission to continue to make sure the Guptas continue to gain from coal supplies at Eskom through coal mining company Tegeta.

Stuur boy

It’s clear he will always be protected. He has been good to them not only at Eskom, added Mapaila who alleged that Molefe had been doing the family’s bidding while at Transnet and the Public Investment Corporation.

“He has always been important, if you like… a good Stuur boy for the Guptas,” Mapaila said.

The SACP which has often raised concerns over Molefe in the past said it was extremely shocking that the Eskom board would take such a decision.

Its choice to rescind Molefe’s early retirement application was supported by Public Enterprises minister Lynn Browne.

“We want to call on the board of Eskom to reverse this decision and to assure them we will roll out mass activity to make sure they reverse this particular decision,” said the SACP deputy general secretary.

“Take appropriate action to reverse this decision,” Mapaila said, directing his call to the ANC.

Johannesburg – Gauteng Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs and Human Settlements MEC Paul Mashatile conceded on Friday that government had dragged its feet in terms of service delivery and apologised to the Ennerdale and Finetown communities.

He said it was regrettable that the communities had to burn tyres to get his attention.

Mashatile was speaking at a meeting in the Region G offices with the steering committees of Ennerdale and Finetown, following violent service delivery protests for housing.

“I am sorry that you had to burn tyres to get my attention. I am just a phone call away,” Mashatile said on Friday.

On Friday, there was visible policing in the small town but there were no signs of protests.

An angry resident, Farouk Jardine, stood up and told the gathering that he was bored by the speeches and presentations, including that of Mashatile.

“Today you call us … while the townships are burning, you tell us this. This is not the response that we expected. And if the Minister Lindiwe Sisulu is as boring as you are, then I am going straight to her face.

“It is a sin to see this vast open land around us and yet people have to live like sardines on the land…We are giving you two weeks to go and identify this land and allow people to settle on that land,” Jardine said.

He said if Mashatile does not heed the call to make land available then the community would mobilise and occupy the land illegally.

‘Orderly development’

“If we have to do it by force then we will do it. You can call in the army, are you going to shoot people without houses? That would only be exposing yourselves.”

He said it saddened him that after 23 years of democracy, people were still demanding houses.

“You don’t know the pressure that people on the ground are going through, living in backrooms; you don’t have a job but you have to pay rent… If you had pressure, then you would have come with proper answers today, not what you have said.”

Responding to the man, Mashatile said while he understood the community’s frustration and the urgency for houses, he could not allow a situation where people occupied land illegally.

“There will be chaos around the country, we need to plan properly. I know that we need to move faster but we need orderly development.”

He promised the community that the government would come up with a budget to build them houses.

“The spirit of our meeting should be, let’s get things done.”

‘It was never our intention’

He accepted that the government had taken too long to deliver.

“You should not be waiting three months for departments to comment on a simple report. It can be done speedily. We need to be able to tell communities when we meet them that this is when construction will begin.”

He said communities became impatient when they were not informed on progress.  

Another community member from neighbouring community Finetown said there had been divisions and disputes over land between it and the Ennerdale community, despite the two communities co-existing under one ward.

“This extension six that you are talking about, there have been disputes over it. Ennerdale said we can’t [go there] because we are black people, we smell [but] when we were protesting, we [Ennerdale and Finetown] did it together because our children need houses. Today we feel left out,” the man said.  

After the meeting, chairperson of the Ennerdale Project Steering Committee, Marge Cass, said the meeting was productive and the community understood that the government needed to be given adequate time to deliver services.

She said Mashatile said he had received documents that the community had been waiting for for six months.

“This tells me that in this government, you need to burn something like infrastructure or be violent so that they can come to the party and it was never our intention to go down that route.

“Even in the past, for the MEC to even address us, we had to make a lot of noise and protest. After this week’s protest, all of a sudden documents have been signed.”

Way forward

On the complaint made by a community member from Finetwon, Cass said when the housing database was drawn, it included Ennerdale and Finetown.

“There is a thin line between us and Finetown. We are literally separated by a bridge and it is not a fair statement to say that we have not been speaking on behalf of them, we are all under the same ward crying for the same course,” she said.  

Mashatile also said it was a productive meeting, however, he said, “We want to avoid a situation where we have to see a problem and a problem for coloureds and another for black people, we need to deal with the issue as one.”

He said overall it was a good meeting with people complaining that it had taken the government long to deliver services.

“All that is needed is for the city to comment on the plans so that we can decide when we are going to start with construction,” he said.  

Mashatile rushed to meet with Eldorado Park after the meeting.

KINSHASA – An Ebola outbreak has been declared in northeast Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization said Friday, after the virus caused three deaths in the area since April 22.

The WHO said the outbreak affects an equatorial forest region in Bas-Uele province, bordering Central African Republic.

The last Ebola outbreak in Congo in 2014 was quickly contained and killed 49 people according to official figures.

READ: Ebola’s long-term effects revealed

In a television address, Health Minister Oly Ilunga confirmed the outbreak while urging the population “not to panic”.

The country “has taken all necessary measures to responde quickly and efficiently to this new outbreak”, he said.

The WHO said it was working closely with DR Congo authorities to help deploy health workers and protective equipment in the remote area, which is difficult for teams to access, in order to “rapidly control the outbreak”.

READ: Over 700 SANDF soldiers to be stationed in the DRC

In 2013, an Ebola epidemic began in west Africa that killed 11,300 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia and has left thousands more survivors with long-term health problems.

The WHO was criticised at the time for responding too slowly and failing to grasp the gravity of the outbreak.

AFP