‘Expose state capture’
By doing this, everyone knows who’s stealing and how to stop it, Pravin tells students
FORMER finance minister Pravin Gordhan was firm in his stance that one of the best ways to challenge state capture was to speak out about it and expose it.
Gordhan was presenting a lecture on state capture, white monopoly capital and radical economic transformation at the University of Johannesburg in Auckland Park. He was joined by his former deputy, Mcebisi Jonas.
Both were axed by President Jacob Zuma during his controversial late night reshuffle of the cabinet earlier this year.
Gordhan outlined what state capture meant and how all South Africans were impacted by it. He said it had affected all citizens across all occupations, because everyone knew about it.
“South Africans from all walks of life… from the humblest to the most sophisticated know who is stealing, who is responsible for the thefts and how to stop this,” Gordhan said.
“This phenomenon also deprives young people of jobs and their ability to contribute to the economy, and results in a decline in political morality.”
Gordhan also tackled the economic impact of state capture, saying South Africa was faced with negative growth as a result.
This meant less revenue generated and less money in the fiscus.
Additionally, as a result of negative growth and state capture, there was a freezing of investment in the country.
“This then means there’s less money for education and the building of hospitals,” he pointed out.
Gordhan said one of the best ways to tackle state capture was to expose it to the public in any way possible. His former right-hand man used the lecture as a platform to tackle the issue of radical economic transformation.
Jonas said transformation could not be reduced to a race issue, as this did not address the issue of inequality.
“Transformation cannot be reduced to increasing black ownership in large JSEowned companies… This will not reduce inequality,” he said. Transformation was about the fundamental restructuring of the economy, he explained.
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