A fish rots from the Head down: Brown must Go.

30 January 2018

Following damning admissions made today by interim Eskom CEO, Phakamani Hadebe, that poor leadership was the primary reason behind Eskom's corporate governance lapses and weak financial position, coupled with the statement that the board is dealing with executives facing allegations of serious corruption and other acts of impropriety, the DA formally requests the immediate removal of the Minister of Public Enterprises, Lynn Brown.

In recent days and weeks, Leader of Government Business, Cyril Ramaphosa, has made a number of statements assuring us of his resolve in fighting corruption. This newfound resolve is welcome, but also curious considering that Ramaphosa has served as Deputy President since June 2014. Indeed, Ramaphosa is quoted as saying that his resolve to fight corruption was not “a flash in the pan” but would “go deep into the roots of this corruption”.

We now call on Deputy President Ramaphosa to put his money where his mouth is. The first port of call in rooting out State Capture is the Department of Public Enterprises, the department that oversees the country’s state-owned entities (SOEs) and the largest utility in Africa, namely ESKOM. The buck stops with the Minister.

We need to prove to the South African public that we are serious about ridding our country of corruption and State Capture. This starts by removing a Minister who fell very short of her Constitutional obligation to oversee SOE's and whom herself has now been implicated in State Capture.

Issued by Natasha Mazzone, DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises, 30 January 2018