Claim Brown tried to abuse her position
PUBLIC Enterprises Deputy Director-General Kgathatso Tlhakudi has described how former minister Lynne Brown frustrated the role of officials and sought to abuse her prerogative in appointing boards.
Tlhakudi was yesterday testifying before the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture in relation to state-owned arms manufacturer Denel.
He accused Brown of going ahead with the appointment of former president Jacob Zuma’s lawyer, Daniel Mantsha, as chairperson of the Denel board in 2015, despite his lack of experience and controversies around him.
“Mr Mantsha was struck off the roll of attorneys and that is not a good background to bring to an entity like Denel. Denel is quite a sophisticated business, which is in the top 100 in the world, and has a significant international business portfolio. (He had) no significant board experience, which was concerning,” Tlhakudi said.
Mantsha has been at the centre of corruption allegations within Denel, due to Gupta-linked transactions that took place under his tenure, including the Denel-Asia project‚ which was a joint venture between Denel and Gupta-owned companies aimed at supplying arms to the Asian market.
Mantsha was implicated as the key campaigner who tried to lobby National Treasury and Brown’s department to give the green light to the ill-fated venture, saying it would result in business worth about $9.2billion (R133bn).