Brian Molefe Becomes An MP, Next Stop Finance Minister?

The controversial former Eskom boss was nominated to the North West list.
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Brian Molefe.
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Former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe will become a member of parliament, according to a statement released by Parliament on Friday afternoon.

Molefe attracted controversy when he was implicated in the Public Protector's State of Capture report for links to the Gupta family, known to be close to President Jacob Zuma.

Parliament on Friday confirmed that Molefe was nominated to fill a vacancy on the North West list.

Presiding officers will determine when he would be sworn in as a MP, the institution said.

Molefe quit the power utility after a damning report on state capture was released by former public protector Thuli Madonsela.

The Sunday Times has previously reported Molefe could soon be sworn in as a Member of Parliament, in what is said to be a plan to fire Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and replace him with Molefe.

The newspaper says President Jacob Zuma is expected to reshuffle his Cabinet to make way for Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who is seen as one of the front-runners to succeed the president at the elective conference.

Brian Molefe not fit to be MP - DA

Molefe was not fit and proper to be a Member of Parliament, Democratic Alliance chief whip John Steenhuisen said.

Steenhuisen on Friday said they were looking forward to reporting Molefe to Parliament's ethics committee, once he was sworn in.

"He is going to be a gift to the opposition," Steenhuisen said.

The DA chief whip also questioned the use of Parliamentary communications to announce an ANC appointment.

"This is unprecedented," he said.

He said parliament's new communications head Moloto Mothapo, the former African National Congress caucus spokesperson, had failed his first test.

Congress of the People spokesperson Dennis Bloem said this was confirmation of their suspicions of an imminent cabinet reshuffle.

"This is proof that Zuma is hell-bent on getting his person in. It's amazing because this is someone who was mentioned in the state capture report, repeatedly."

He reiterated earlier fears from his party that Molefe would be made finance minister.