Gordhan to retire from politics
• Public enterprises minister says time has come for him to focus on his family and health
Public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan, a veteran of the struggle against apartheid, is to retire from active politics in the coming weeks.
The general election on May 29 is expected to mark the end of an era for Gordhan, 74, a prominent figure who has occupied strategic positions in the government since the 1994 transition to democracy.
In an exclusive interview with Business Day on Thursday, Gordhan expressed his desire to prioritise his family and health, stating that he would no longer be available to be on the ANC’s party list of electoral candidates.
“I feel it is time to focus on my family and health. It is an end of 50 years of activism, but I will always remain an activist. It has been a great privilege to serve in various capacities and hopefully I can contribute by teaching what I know to new and younger generations,” he said.
Gordhan’s announcement comes ahead of the submission of the ANC’s candidate lists to the Electoral Commission SA (IEC) on Friday, and pre-empts likely reaction to news that he is not on the governing party’s list of preferred parliamentary candidates.
MARKETS
The news is also likely to disappoint the markets which widely expected Gordhan to continue the project of reforming SA’s beleaguered state-owned enterprises in the event that the ANC prevails at the ballot.
However, his critics, who have blamed him for the poor performance of state-owned enterprises under his portfolio, and his political rivals will rejoice at his departure.
Gordhan, who is seen as a close aide of Ramaphosa, did not win popular support within the ANC to make it back into its national executive committee at the party’s national conference in 2022. However, he has remained a central part of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s executive.
Political analyst Mcebisi Ndletyana said Gordhan’s retirement was not a victory for his detractors as he had already served his purpose in defeating state capture.
“President Ramaphosa and the market trusted him to implement a reform path. But lately when he speaks I get the sense he is tired. It is now up to the president to ensure the space he leaves is not filled by the wrong person, if the reform agenda is to be re-energised and reaffirmed.”
Ndletyana said that Gordhan would leave a leadership vacuum and Ramaphosa should look beyond his inner circle to fill it, adding that the only credible candidate in his view was former deputy finance minister and now businessman Mcebisi Jonas.
“Of the public leaders, he is one of the few who has provided candid and bold answers on what SA needs to do, and he is trusted by the markets. He will not be a sloganeer and would be the best person to occupy the space (Gordhan) leaves behind,” Ndletyana said.
Gordhan said that despite his decision to step down from active politics, he remained a loyal member to the party and was confident of a smooth transition.
“I will certainly be voting ANC. No-one is indispensable. The key is I am leaving behind teams of individuals to continue with the good work we started. Markets can adapt, they factor a change of guard into planning.”
He, however, cautioned that the ANC needed to remain vigilant as corrupt practices had
not necessarily ended.
“We still have various forms of rent-seeking that leads to corrupt activity and efforts to corrupt individuals. A better informed public that does not tolerate glib explanations is needed to detect and discourage rent-seeking,” he said.
But Gordhan toed the partly line and took a soft stance on those implicated in state capture but have not yet been charged. The ANCs leaders are deliberating
on’ whether they should be included in its lists of preferred candidates.
“If the rule is one only has to step aside when one is charged, then the rules of the organisation have to be respected,” Gordhan said. “One would expect one’s own conscience to also guide one. If you know if you have something wrong step aside and allow the public to have trust in the ANC.”
Business Day reported on Thursday that those implicated in chief justice Raymond Zondo’s state capture report could not be forced to step aside in terms of the list of preferred MPs and MPLs that the ANC submits to the Electoral Commission of SA, as the party believed a commission of inquiry was not a court of law.
The decision to include those implicated in state capture has been a bone of contention in the party and has raised doubts about its commitment to fighting corruption.