On March 12, 2015, the day after Matona had been suspended, Brown said in a media statement that she had indeed addressed the Eskom board “sharing my concerns, fears and frustration about the state of affairs of the state-owned company”.
“As shareholder representative, I am concerned about the instability at power plants, the financial liquidity of the utility, the lack of credible information, the unreliable supply of electricity and its dire impact on our economy, progress with the build programme, overruns at Medupi and Kusile and delays of the investigation into incidents at Majuba and Dubha and the issue of coal and diesel pricing,” said Brown at the time.
Brown, who continue to serve as minister of public enterprises until 2018, was later heavily criticised by Pravin Gordhan in a separate Parliamentary inquiry into Eskom for “denials” that state capture existed.
In November 2017 Gordhan told his former Cabinet colleague that her only answer to state capture allegations is “denial, denial, denial”, and citing the “suspensions of officials who are actually innocent” among other charges.
Brown, meanwhile, denied being involved in any type of state capture, saying she had “never consulted with anyone on my executive functions.”
Gordhan was named minister of public enterprises in February 2018, taking over from Brown.
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