Lynne Brown asks her PA to resign after alleged Gupta links

Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown says she has asked her personal assistant, Kim Davids, to resign following reports she has links to the controversial Gupta family accused of state capture.

In a statement on Wednesday, Brown said she felt the mounting allegations against her personal assistant could compromise the legitimacy of her department. However, her decision was not an expression of guilt on the part of Davids.

“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.

“I want to thank Ms Davids for her service and wish her well,” she added.

Amabhungane and Scorpio reported on Wednesday that according to the #GuptaLeaks Davids was one of three people close to Brown who had links to the Guptas, including her longtime romantic partner, Ingrid Tufvesson, and director-general in her department, Richard Seleke.

Last week, The Times reported that the large cache of leaked emails also showed how Davids visited Dubai in 2015, and her hotel bill of R32 000 was settled by the Guptas, but she has denied the allegations.

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