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).
Tlhakudi said a convoluted process was created in the venture in order to serve particular interests, with the Gupta links to the unknown VR Laser – which would partner with Denel – being altered and pressure being put on officials to enable it to go through.
Tlhakudi said a number of officials were victimised and some lost their jobs under Brown, who forced administrators to toe the line when she joined the ministry in 2014.
“One of the things Brown emphasised when she arrived at the department was that she was the shareholder representative, and that as officials, we should know our place, and we could not act without her directive.”
He said the line between the ministry and the department had become blurred, which allowed encroachment on the department by the ministry.
“We understand that politics has a role to play, but I would have expected her (a minister) to create room for the department to perform its job,” he said.
Tlhakudi said Brown’s predecessor, Malusi Gigaba, and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan had allowed officials to do their jobs, unlike Brown.
One of the things Brown emphasised was that… as officials, literally we should know our place Kgathatso Tlhakudi Public Enterprises Deputy Director-General