The office of the Public Protector has agreed to investigate Public Enterprise Minister Lynne Brown over allegations that she violated Executive Members’ Ethics Code when she allegedly lied to Parliament about contracts between Eskom and Trillian.
This after Brown, in responding to parliamentary questions, failed to disclose that there had been contracts of engagement between Eskom and Trillian, which is chaired by Tokyo Sexwale.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) had written to the Public Protector's office requesting the probe after recent media reports that Eskom had, at the time of the reply, already been invoiced by Trillian, or one of its subsidiaries, for more than R250 million. These allegations were confirmed by an investigative report released by Sexwale yesterday.
“The Public Protector’s investigation is an indictment of how the Guptas have completely captured Eskom. The minister’s failing leadership saw to this capture of Eskom. Our state-owned enterprises have become a haven for the Guptas to loot and plunder the public’s money. The DA will continue to stand up and fight against the Guptas’ and ANC’s corruption so that it can be brought to an end,” the party’s shadow minister for public enterprise Natasha Mazzone said.
Mazzone told City Press that should the probe find Brown guilty, the party would definitely demand that she renders an apology and step down.