The beleaguered Brian Molefe has managed to progress from alleged Gupta lieutenant to a highly paid military colonel.
It has only been a few months and Molefe has been called up to serve as a colonel in the army at R57 000 a month. Molefe started in August.
He has no military background.
According to internal defence force documents, seen by City Press sister newspaper Rapport, he was called up indefinitely for active service, while reserve force members are usually only used for active service for three months at a time.
He was appointed in 2009 as an honorary colonel of the SA Irish regiment, a part-time unit. This is similar to a ceremonial appointment and he performed a wreath laying in this capacity in 2014.
Regulations of the Defence Act promulgated in 2009 explicitly stipulate that honorary members are not entitled to benefits or compensation.
According to the regulations, an honorary member must also have “appropriate qualifications and training” for the post.
However, Defence Force spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini said Molefe was part of a pool of “specialists” who help the army with “auditing queries” from the Auditor-General.
“Especially the army uses these specialists when a specific skill is needed that can be found in the Reserve Force.”
He admitted that Molefe was called up earlier, but denied that Molefe was currently called up despite payroll information seen by Rapport this week.
Molefe was registered on this system on August 23 and his call up was backdated to August 17 so that he could receive his first salary by the end of August.
The same system confirms that Molefe was called up for four days in 2010 and earned R4 006 for this period.
Molefe did not respond to requests for comments.
Angry soldiers who heard about this plan told City Press that Molefe had no background in the military’s financial systems and auditing processes.
Advocate Thuli Madonsela pointed him out in her report on state capture as a link between the Guptas and Eskom, and he was Transnet’s chief executive when the Guptas also allegedly concluded fraudulent deals there. Molefe was fired from Eskom in May and his controversial monthly retirement of R111 000 was stopped.
