Former Mines minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi has revealed shocking events in the period leading up to his dismissal. He says Eskom's CEO Brian Molefe and chairperson Ben Ngubane asked him to suspend Glencore's mining licences. Ramatlodi says the request which was made in 2015 was an effort to put pressure on the commodities firm to sell a coal mine. In the same year, Glencore placed Optimum coal mine under protection from creditors. It later sold it to Tegeta Exploration and Resources, a firm which the Gupta brothers control.