Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown has responded with an emphatic no to a suggestion that she resign in light of the allegations of state capture swirling around key parastatals and her alleged failure to hold their boards and executives to account.
The suggestion was made in a written parliamentary question posed to the minister by DA public enterprises spokeswoman Natasha Mazzone.
Brown began her response by saying Cabinet ministers are appointed by the president.
"It is easy to get caught up in the song of the choir of negativity," the minister said. "Let me say that state-owned companies (SOCs) are in a better position today than when I took over. The SOCs in my portfolio increased their asset base from about R750m in 2014 to more than R1-trillion."
Brown said Transnet recorded net profit in the 2017-18 financial year of R3.4bn on a 13.8% revenue increase to R37.1bn.
According to the minister, under her watch Eskom had been turned around from load shedding and not being a going concern. "Today units 4, 5 and 6 at Medupi and unit 1 at Kusile are commercialised, while Ingula is fully commercialised. The revised build-programme is ahead of schedule. An example is Medupi’s unit 4 that was commercialised yesterday. This milestone was achieved ahead of the scheduled revised timeline of July 2018. Although Eskom faces liquidity challenges, my department, National Treasury and Eskom are working together to resolve this matter."
She said Denel had been listed among the top 100 arms manufacturers in the world.
Delving into state capture, she said: "I instituted the investigations into the SOCs, in particular Eskom and Transnet, as a firm stance against corruption. Once the proclamations have been issued, the Special Investigating Unit will look at issues of procurement and contract management at Eskom and Transnet."
Brown continued: "When I have become aware of these allegations, including the interim report of the public protector into the state of capture, I have, on more than 10 occasions, called for a judicial commission of inquiry. I am therefore awaiting the appointment of the commission of inquiry to get to the root of these allegations.
The minister also sought to highlight her achievements: "All SOCs now have permanent CEOs and chief financial officers (with the exception of Eskom, which is the subject of a legal and a disciplinary process, respectively). When I was appointed minister, members of boards had to submit declaration of interests once a year. I changed that to twice a year."
Brown once again reiterated that all allegations of state capture must be tested in a court of law or a body entrusted with the authority to do so.
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