Lynne Brown
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Lynne Brown (born 26 September 1961) is a South African politician who is a former
Minister of Public Enterprises The Minister of Public Enterprises is a minister in the cabinet of the national government of South Africa. He is appointed by the President of South Africa and is the political head of the Department of Public Enterprises, which was establishe ...
and former
Premier of the Western Cape The Premier of the Western Cape is the head of government of the Western Cape province of South Africa. The current Premier of the Western Cape is Alan Winde, a member of the Democratic Alliance, who was elected in the 2019 election. He took o ...
Province. She was born in
Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
and grew up in
Mitchells Plain Mitchells Plain is a large township located within the City of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa and situated about from the Cape Town city centre. It is one of South Africa's largest residential areas and contains multiple smaller suburbs ...
. She was appointed Premier of the Western Cape following the resignation of
Ebrahim Rasool Ebrahim Rasool (born 15 July 1962) is a South African politician and diplomat who served as the South African Ambassador to the United States from 2010 to 2015, as a Member of the National Assembly from 2009 to 2010, and as the 5th Premier of the ...
in July 2008. Previously, she was Minister for Economic Development and Tourism. She is a member of the
African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...
(ANC) and an elected member of its
National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties: * National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa * Australian Labor Party National Executive * Nationa ...
in 2007 and 2012. She is from a
coloured Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...
background and was the fourth coloured premier of the Western Cape, the second from the ANC, and the first openly
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
person to be appointed to a cabinet post in any African government."South Africa appoints first lesbian to cabinet"
by David Smith, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', Monday 26 May 2014.


Political career

Brown was chairperson of the Mitchell's Plain Youth Congress in 1979 and a member of the United Women's Organisation from 1979 to 1985. She was a member of the United Women's Congress from 1985 to 1990, serving first as Education Officer and then as Provincial Secretary. She was involved in the United Democratic Front from its formation in 1983 until its disbandment in 1991, serving as a member of its Finance Committee. Brown joined the ANC in 1987 and was elected to the Provincial Executive Committee and Provincial Working Committee in 1999. She has served as Western Cape Provincial Secretary of the
ANC Women's League The African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL) is an auxiliary women's political organization of the African National Congress, African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa. This organization has its precedent in the Bantu Women's League ...
since 1990. Her involvement in education continued after her teaching years. She was a board member of the National Literacy Project and is currently a board member of the Extramural Education Project. She initiated and was director of the Women's College in 1990. In 1994 and again in 1999 she was elected as an ANC Member of the
Western Cape Provincial Legislature The Western Cape Provincial Parliament (WCPP) is the legislature of the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is located at 7 Wale Street in Cape Town. The Provincial Parliament, along with the other Provincial legislature (South Africa), pro ...
. She was chairperson of the standing committees on Community Services and on Health and Welfare, and served as an ANC Whip and Chief Whip in the legislature. She stood as the ANC's candidate as
Mayor of Cape Town The Mayor of Cape Town is the head of the local government of Cape Town, South Africa; currently that government takes the form of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. In the past, the position of Mayor has varied between that of an ...
in 1999 and served as provincial Minister (MEC) for finance, economic development and tourism until her elevation to the office of Premier in 2008. The ANC lost control of the province in the 2009 general election with the Democratic Alliance garnering 22 of the 42 seats in the
Provincial Parliament The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Member of Provincial ...
. The DA premier candidate
Helen Zille Otta Helene Maree (''née'' Zille ; born 9 March 1951), known as Helen Zille, is a South African politician. She has served as the Chairperson of the Federal Council of the Democratic Alliance since 20 October 2019. From 2009 until 2019, she w ...
replaced Brown on 6 May 2009. She served as Leader of the ANC Opposition from 2009 until May 2014, when she was appointed by former President
Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...
to his cabinet as Minister of Public Enterprises. Lynne Brown's political legacy hangs in the balance following the
Eskom Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom is a South African electricity public utility. It was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) and was also known by its Afrikaans name Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie (EVKOM). Eskom repre ...
enquiry. She initially claimed the Eskom inquiry amounted to a kangaroo court after she was called a liar by Eskom board spokesman Khulani Qoma over her role in the state capture of the power utility. She denied having read the Gupta emails despite receiving them from
Natasha Mazzone Natasha Wendy Anita Mazzone (born 9 May 1979) is a South African politician who served as the Chief Whip of the Official Opposition in the National Assembly of South Africa from October 2019 until August 2022. She has been a Member of the Nat ...
, and denied that President Zuma had called her after meeting Zola Tsotsi (Eskom Chairman at the time), a meeting that led to the suspension of senior executives
Tshediso Matona Tshediso John Matona is a South African civil servant and former CEO of Eskom. Matona graduated from the University of Cape Town with a degree in Economics and Politics, and from the University of East Anglia with a Masters in Development Economic ...
, Dan Marokane, Tsholofelo Molefe and Matshela Koko. She denied knowing Tony Gupta and
Salim Essa Salim Aziz Essa (born 15 January 1978), is a South African known for his links to the Gupta family, alongside which he stands accused of state capture and various other forms of criminal and fraudulent activity. Essa owns shares in several Gupta ...
after Tsotsi stated under oath that Brown had invited him to her house and "Tony Gupta and Salim Essa were present." In February 2018 she was removed from the Cabinet of President
Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician who is currently serving as the fifth democratically elected president of South Africa. Formerly an anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader, and ...
, being succeeded by
Pravin Gordhan Pravin Jamnadas Gordhan (born 12 April 1949) is a politician and anti-apartheid activist who has held various ministerial posts in the Cabinet of South Africa. He served as Minister of Finance from 2009 until 2014 and again from 2015 until 2017, ...
and subsequently resigning as an ANC member of parliament.


State Capture Commission

The State Capture Commission, better known as the Zondo Commission, found that Brown, whilst serving as the Minister of Public Enterprises, had between 2014 and 2015 appointed several people to the Board of Eskom with disregard to official vetting processes and that Brown had failed to consider the recommendations on the database of the
Department of Public Enterprises The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) is one of the ministries of the South African government. It is the government's shareholder representative with oversight responsibility for a number of state-owned enterprises (SoEs). Enterprises It ...
(DPE). Her actions were found to have culminated in the appointment of several persons with conflicts of interests and associations with Salim Essa and the
Gupta family The Gupta family is a wealthy Indian-born family with business interests in South Africa, whose most notable members are brothers Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh "Tony" Gupta—as well as Atul's nephews Varun, and US-based Ashish and Amol. The family ow ...
, and many with no prior experience as directors of any state-owned enterprise. In an affidavit to the Zondo Commission in 2021, Brown testified that she did not know who Salim Essa was and that she was merely following the procedures given to her by the DPE. However, the Zondo Commission subsequently identified an association between Brown and Salim Essa. The Zondo commission identified a log of several phone calls between Brown and Salim Essa during 2014. The Zondo Commission further identified a trail of emails between Brown, her personal assistant Kim Davids and a 'Business Man' email account – an alias which was found to be Salim Essa's pseudonym. The Zondo Commission also found that Brown's actions were in contradiction to her testimony, in that she had in fact failed to follow the DPE's processes and recommendations and that she ultimately merely circulated an advertisement in newspapers inviting anyone to apply for nomination to the Board. The Zondo Commission thus found that the evidence clearly showed Brown was familiar with Salim Essa and that she had cooperated in the capture of Eskom.Judicial Commission of Inquiry into State Capture Report: Part IV: Volume III: The Capture of Eskom (1 February 2022) < https://www.statecapture.org.za/site/files/announcements/682/OCR_version_-_State_Capture_Commission_Report_Part_IV_Vol_III_-_Eskom.pdf > pages 561 to 574 and 608 to 614. Retrieved 30 June 2022


Personal life

Brown is openly gay.


See also

* List of LGBT heads of government *
List of the first LGBT holders of political offices This is a list of political offices which have been held by a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender person, with details of the first such holder of each office. It should only list people who came out as LGBT before or during their terms in offi ...


References


External links


Official biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Lynne 1961 births Living people Politicians from Cape Town Cape Coloureds African National Congress politicians Premiers of the Western Cape Members of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament Lesbian politicians LGBT governors and heads of sub-national entities South African LGBT politicians Government ministers of South Africa Women government ministers of South Africa Women members of provincial legislatures of South Africa Women premiers of South African provinces LGBT legislators