ANC’s Brown resigns from parliament
Former public enterprises minister quits amid state capture probe
FRIDAY MARCH 02 2018
FORMER public enterprises minister Lynne Brown has resigned as a Member of Parliament, the ANC Chief Whip yesterday confirmed. “She (Brown) has expressed her gratitude in having served the people of South Africa and thanked the ANC for having given her the opportunity to do so,” ANC Chief Whip Jackson Mthembu said.
Brown was one of the ministers fired this week during a cabinet reshuffle by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Brown was sworn in as an MP following the 2014 general elections. Her stint as public enterprises minister was marred by allegations, made in public and in a parliamentary inquiry, of her being involved in helping the politically connected Gupta family score billions of rand of contracts with state-owned enterprises, most notably the power utility Eskom.
In the latest testimony in the inquiry into state capture, suspended Eskom head of group capital Abram Masango, said Brown had failed to act against Eskom’s former executive Matshela Koko.
This was after Masango had submitted a whistleblower’s report to former board chairperson Ben Ngubane.
Brown had defended herself in the inquiry against state capture and was fiercely questioned by members of the portfolio committee on public enterprises.
ANC caucus spokesperson Nonceba Mhlauli said Brown joined the National Assembly in 2014, and previously served as a member of the Western Cape provincial legislature in various capacities since 1994.
“She has expressed her gratitude in having served the people of South Africa and thanked the ANC for having given her the opportunity to do so,” she said.
“We are confident that she will continue serving the country and our movement in other capacities in future. We wish her well,” Mhlauli said.