Lynne Brown’s parliamentary performance indicates more than just poor judgement, it also shows possible complicity, writes Mcebisi Ndletyana.
What of the Minister of Public Enterprises, Lynne Brown? Her account in Parliament on Tuesday, as she sought to explain what had been happening at Eskom, left one more bewildered than knowledgeable and content.
What she said was not only unsatisfactory on merit, but also went against what her party was seeking to achieve in its forthcoming fifth National Policy Conference. The explanation was inconsiderate of both the challenges her party faced and the urgency of the remedy. What prospects does it portend for the party to succeed in its endeavour?
In its broad outline, the party’s Strategy and Tactics (S&T) document is unequivocal on the severity of the challenges that grip the movement.
“The ANC faces declining fortunes,” the document states. At the core of this decline, the guiding text goes on to explain, are: “Internal squabbles, money politics, corruption and performance in government”
What all these problems mean, according to the S&T document, is that rather than “being the centre of transformation and ethical rectitude, increasingly the ANC and the government have occasionally to be directed from elsewhere - in the manner of ‘lawfare’ - to do right. The moral suasion that the ANC has wielded to lead society is waning”
While the liberation movement is seemingly worried about these organisational ills, it also notes that some observers have remarked that they’re inevitable after a considerable period in government. The S&T document disagrees. It dismisses this observation as falsely diagnosing the status quo as a divined outcome, rather than a result of deliberate human actions.
Because these ills are “subjective”, instead of being “the natural order of things”, the organisation insists that they can and should be corrected. Key to self-correcting, the S&T counsels, is integrity.
This relates not only to the leadership, but also the organisational processes and membership of the organisation.
Senior ANC members are criss-crossing the country leading discussions, in various branches, to ensure that its members understand the content of the S&T document and many others.
Nothing in what Brown said on Tuesday is consistent with self-correction that is implored by the S&T document. In fact, the entire Brian Molefe saga, which Brown sought to explain away, shows a party that is getting worse.
Let’s consider the latter first before coming to Brown’s questionable parliamentary performance. Molefe’s misconduct is allegedly long and wide-ranging, but his recent stopover in Parliament is a sufficient example.
His name was never on the list that the ANC compiled for Parliament at the beginning of this term. That explains ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe’s shock upon being asked to explain the then rumour that Molefe was heading for Parliament. Not only that, but Molefe was not even a member of a branch in the North West, which forwarded his name.
Christina Malulu, the secretary of the branch in ward 29, denied knowledge of Molefe’s membership, and a bank teller was subsequently suspended for colluding in the fabrication of Molefe’s membership.
Despite the manifest fraud, Molefe was sworn in as a Member of Parliament, forcing fellow MPs to address him as “honourable”. This happened on February 23 just as the ANC was preparing to issue its policy documents, in which, as noted above, it calls for integrity in organisational processes. The party’s secretary-general, the official that runs the organisation, did nothing about Molefe’s swearing-in, even though the policy documents he issued called for organisational integrity.
As for Brown’s parliamentary performance, it indicates more than just poor judgement on her part. It also shows possible complicity in Molefe’s improper re-appointment. Granted she’s not opposing the court challenge to have the re-appointment rescinded, but she shouldn’t have allowed it to happen, in the first place.
Yet, she absolves herself of any responsibility in the matter. In her affidavit to the court, Brown states that “Dr Ngubane had already signed the reinstatement agreement when he sent it to me. I was not a party to the agreement”. This is not entirely true. Ngubane, as Brown herself concedes, did write to her requesting her approval. She does not say if she granted the approval.
Instead Brown hides behind a technicality, saying Eskom had already received legal advice approving the reinstatement. In saying this, Brown wants us to believe that her approval was immaterial, but she still doesn’t say whether she granted it.
Brown probably approved Molefe’s re-instatement.
But, she’s not admitting to it for fear of being tainted even more.
Maybe an investigation will find proof to that effect, but the very continuation of this board is sufficient evidence of her approval.
Brown and Ngubane’s board share a common purpose.
If not, she would have dissolved this board. It has been dishonest. First, it offered Molefe R30 million on resignation, apparently without informing her. When the news of a golden handshake broke, the board lied that it was a pension payout to which Molefe was entitled.
On seeing that the pension story did not fly, the board rescinded it and offered Molefe his job back. Challenged on that reappointment, now the board says Molefe never left, actually.
He was just on unpaid leave. What a stupid lie. And, Brown is going along with the deceit. This board is just downright dishonest. That alone is sufficient ground for Brown to dissolve it, but she’s not.
Brown’s complicity in impropriety was unexpected. She had a reputation for being ethical. That is all in doubt now. It’s highly possible that she’s part of the patron-client network that President Jacob Zuma has inaugurated. We know from Barbara Hogan and Vytjie Mentoor that being a Gupta-proxy was a pre-condition for getting the job.
For refusing, Hogan was fired and Mentoor was disqualified for appointment. Malusi Gigaba, who took the job, now receives considerable mention in the State of Capture report. Today, Brown is refusing to fire a board that has been presiding over the issuing of dubious tenders to the Gupta family.
If Brown is not a Gupta-proxy, how then does one explain her aiding and abetting of a crooked board? Perhaps she hasn’t received any illicit financial benefits, but goes along for fear of losing her job. That’s what happened to Hogan, Pravin Gordhan and Mcebisi Jonas. It is understandable to protect one’s livelihood.
But, that doesn’t absolve one of blame. She’s complicit in the plundering of state resources. This is a kind of behaviour that not only cultivates tolerance, but also encourages corruption within officialdom. You look like a fool if you’re not corrupt, and can even be fired because you pose a threat to your corrupt colleagues. It’s safe for everyone when it’s corrupt galore. No one “spills the beans”.
It’s just about a month now before the ANC's Policy Conference. If the party’s public representatives can shield impropriety now, what really are the chances of the conference reversing the moral decay? Perhaps all is not lost.
The ANC caucus in Parliament has been expressing moral outrage. But, that’s not enough.
They need to exorcise the source of the pathology, right at the helm of the organisation.
If they fail, they can’t escape the accusation: babole bonke! (they’re all rotten), and will suffer collective punishment.
* Ndletyana is associate professor of politics at the University of Johannesburg.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.