- The former CEO of Transnet says he wants to cross-examine the witness who implicated him and other ex-Transnet executives in testimony before the state capture inquiry.
- Molefe says he has never denied visiting the controversial Gupta family.
- Visits by senior government officials to the family's Saxonwold residence have featured prominently in the commission of inquiry into state capture.
Ex-Transnet CEO Brian Molefe has dismissed testimony presented by his former driver to the state capture inquiry that he received bags of cash from the Gupta family during his many visits to their home in Saxonwold.
Speaking to Fin24 on Friday morning, Molefe, who was CEO of Transnet from February 2011 to 2015, accused the witness of not telling the truth. The identity of the witness was not revealed on Thursday.
"They did not disguise his voice, so I know who he is, and I believe there is a possible motive to why he is doing what he is doing," he said.
Molefe said there was nothing wrong with his visits to the expansive Gupta compound in Johannesburg. The residence was also controversially frequented by several top leader of state-owned entities, as well as former president Jacob Zuma.
Visits by senior government officials to the home of the politically-connected family have featured prominently in the commission, which is investigating allegation of corruption in state institutions.
In his defence, Molefe said the witness did not directly state that he saw Molefe walking out of the Gupta's residence with money.
Molefe said he wants to cross-examine the witness to "reveal the truth".
On Thursday, the witness related a case where Molefe sent him to fetch his cellphone from his bag which he normally carried and discovered it was filled with cash. He told the inquiry he was shocked to see such a large amount of cash and alerted his personal assistant. He feared that carrying such large sums of cash posed a security risk. He said Molefe got upset when he also raised his concern with cash in the bag.
But Molefe said on Friday the money does not prove anything.
"I sent him to fetch a cellphone from my bag and saw money in my bag, but he does not know how much. That is all he said, he does not say where I got the money from, he did not say that I definitely got the money from the Guptas."
Asked if he could confirm the incident, Molefe said; "I cannot confirm it, I have no recollection of it."
State-owned entities including Transnet and Eskom have been at the centre of allegations of the looting through irregular awarding of contracts by influential political connected entrepreneurs, including the Guptas.
Slandered
Molefe, who later joined Eskom after leaving Transnet, argued that the inquiry headed by deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo did not give him sufficient notice about the evidence implicating him.
He said he only received a text from the commission 10 minutes before the start of the proceedings. He also mentioned that he had attempted to present himself before the inquiry but claimed he has not been given a chance.
"I hope the Zondo commission will give me a proper right to reply, however. I have asked to come to the commission, and they have said to me that they will let me know when I will be scheduled, in the meantime I continue to be slandered and be called names.”
In his evidence in May 2019, Transnet board Chairperson Popo Molefe remarked that Brain Molefe’s appointment as CEO of the state-owned logistics firm was first reported in the now defunct Gupta-owned newspaper, New Age.
“Once he (Brian Molefe) came in, we saw a group of people with a common purpose to advance the interests of those pursuing quick accumulation of wealth for themselves through companies and linkages to important big business – some of which were awarded contracts through Transnet,” said Popo Molefe.
Brian Molefe resigned as Eskom CEO in 2016 after being implicated in the Public Protector’s State of Capture report. He was surprisingly reappointed to the state utility in May 2017, a decision that was later rescinded following public backlash.