NATIONAL NEWS - Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has released a damning report calling for action against Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown.
She found that the minister had misled parliament – apparently inadvertently – by maintaining that Trillian, a Gupta-linked consultancy firm, had not been granted Eskom contracts, when it had through a controversial relationship with international consultancy giant McKinsey for which the latter has already apologised after expressing “embarrassment”.
Mkhwebane has recommended that President Cyril Ramaphosa take action against Brown within 14 days. She has not specified what form this action should take. However, it is expected that Ramaphosa will be announcing a cabinet reshuffle soon.
“Minister Brown inadvertently misled Parliament in her assertion that there were no other contracts of engagement concluded between Eskom and Trillian.”
In a statement on Friday morning, Brown has blamed Eskom, saying officials deliberately misled her, and she merely passed on that incorrect information, but she immediately informed parliament’s Ethics Committee and the public protector of what had happened when she became aware that she was lied to.
“According to the information I received from Eskom in response to the questions filed by the chief financial officer on beheld of the chief executive officer, no payments were made. I relayed this information to Parliament, but it emerged that Eskom had indeed made payments to Trillian.”
She claims the information was signed off by the chief financial officer on behalf of the chief executive officer.
