State capture probe ‘a necessity to mitigate downgrades’
PUBLIC Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown has reiterated her calls for a probe into state capture to mitigate South Africa’s downgrades by ratings agencies.
“It is imperative that the fog of allegations of fraud and corruption that have enveloped state-owned companies over the past year are lifted through a definitive investigation followed by appropriate legal processes,” Brown said.
She made the statement when she tabled her department’s budget during the policy speech debate in the National Council of Provinces yesterday.
“We must confront and overcome the allegations and counter-allegations of corruption in state-owned companies and set about the transformative journey in a climate of the highest ethics and responsibility,” Brown said.
She has been under fire from Luthuli House, the ANC’s headquarters, in the wake of the saga over the reappointment of former Eskom chief executive Brian Molefe.
She was convinced that the inquiry into state capture would go a long way to reverse, in the shortest possible time, the decisions of ratings agencies that downgraded the country after the axing in March of former finance minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy.
Brown also welcomed the announcement that President Jacob Zuma was to establish a commission of inquiry.
She did not say anything about the resignation of former Eskom board chairperson Ben Ngubane earlier this week.
The UDM’s Lennox Gaehler said Ngubane could not use his resignation to escape accountability.
Gaehler said state-owned companies had done well during the era of Nelson Mandela, but things had changed because the Gupta family now ran the country.
“This country, as long run it is run through the Guptas, will be in a mess,” he said.
The EFF’s Nkagisang Koni said that for state-owned entities to be saved from further collapse, their boards should to be dissolved and the Public Works Department disestablished.
Koni said the existing boards of the entities should all be fired, and interim boards should be appointed and not be allowed to award major tenders.