‘Liar Liar’
● Utility official says Lynne Brown is a habitual liar and Gupta stooge ● Parliamentary probe runs risk of becoming kangaroo court – minister
‘‘ Minister Brown appointed Koko even after he lied on Carte Blanche
Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown says parliament’s inquiry into state capture runs the risk of becoming a “kangaroo court” after it heard testimony that she was a liar, an “atrocious minister” and responsible for the problems at Eskom.
Eskom board spokesman Khulani Qoma did not hold back as he testified in the Public Enterprises Committee Inquiry yesterday that Brown was surrounded by captured individuals but tried to convince people that she herself was not.
“Minister Brown has gone to the end of the world telling us she is not wet, but she is right in the midst of water. Her DG is captured, her PA is captured, obviously her lover has interests at Eskom.
“Minister Brown lies, she lies all the time and she thinks we can’t see it.”
Qoma detailed how earlier this year, following severe damage to Eskom’s corporate image, former board chairman Ben Ngubane “came close to suspending acting CEO Matshela Koko” but said he was stopped at the last minute by Brown.
Qoma told the committee that on the day in question, Koko had been called back to Eskom and Ngubane had met with the board to discuss his suspension.
However, “Mr [Zethembe] Khoza told me that he snuck out and made a call to a G-brother – which I understood to mean a Gupta brother”. He said the Guptas had called Brown, who called Ngubane and halted the suspension. Qoma said Khoza had told him that “Minister Brown is captured” and that four new board members would be appointed by the Guptas.
Qoma also told the committee that Ngubane had attempted to bring former ANC spokesman Carl Niehaus on board to help with communications, but Qoma said this did not make business sense.
He said before he started, Koko had appeared on Carte Blanche where he had “totally lied” about the pre-payment made to [Gupta company] Tegeta for the purchase of Optimum coal mine. “The minister appointed Koko after he lied on Carte Blanche.”
He said Koko, together with CFO [chief financial officer] Anoj Singh, “were eating the entire asset of the state faster than you can imagine”. Qoma later penned a damning report about the reputational damage at Eskom, suggesting that Koko needed to be removed.
He said Brown had repeatedly been lied to, and had misled parliament as a result, but said she did little to act against those who “caused her to lie”.
Brown said the inquiry should give her the right of response against the allegations levelled against her.