Lynne Brown asks PA to resign after Gupta allegations

[caption id="attachment_167201" align="aligncenter" width="630"] Lynne Brown
Picture: Business Times[/caption]

Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown has asked her personal assistant to resign after reports that she had links to the Gupta family.

“This past week I have been confronted by allegations against Ms Davids. In the interest of fairness I asked Ms Davids to respond to these allegations. I was satisfied with her responses but I felt that the continuous allegations against Ms Davids could compromise the legitimacy of my office‚” Brown said in a statement.

“My decision is not an expression of guilt on the part of Ms Davids. However‚ it is important that my office is above reproach. I want to thank Ms Davids for her service and wish her well.”

TimesLIVE reported recently that the Guptas had discussed footing the bill for a trip that Davids made to Dubai‚ including a chauffeured drive to their luxury home in the United Arab Emirates city.

Details of the trip were discovered in the leaked Gupta emails.

The amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism reported on Wednesday that Davids was one of three people close to Brown who had links to the Gupta family.

Davids was allegedly closely involved in the appointment of board members at state-owned enterprises in 2015‚ around the time when it is believed that Gupta puppets emerged at these entities.