Daily Dispatch

Perilous game threatens all

JUST a year ago the re-appointed Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan warned it was likely that he would have to resort to legal action to protect himself and the Treasury from “whatever elements seek to discredit me, the institution and its integrity”.

He was not wrong. At the time the Hawks were hellbent on charging him with fraud and had dumped on him – on the eve of his budget speech – a list of disturbing questions around the SA Revenue Services’ so-called rogue unit.

Even ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe called it a “well-calculated destabilisation plan with all the elements of disinformation, falsehoods and exaggerated facts”.

Gordhan’s fightback saw a recalcitrant National Prosecuting Authority boss Shaun Abrahams being forced to acknowledge the lack of evidence of fraud. The charges were dropped and investigations into the “rogue” unit fared no better.

Like a master swordsman, Gordhan has parried, deflected and blocked a series of vicious thrusts from enemies in and outside the ANC.

But this fight is not just about Gordhan’s political life, it is about our democracy.

The recent “leaking” of the provisional report by the public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane into the SARB lifeboat extended to the now-defunct Bankorp and Absa in the 1980s and 1990s and subsequent court action by Black Land First leader Andile Mngxitama has signalled that yet another attempt is under way to discredit Gordhan.

Mkhwebane’s report is based on the 19-yearold Ciex Report compiled by former British spies that alleges billions were looted from state coffers but contains no specific detail of how this took place. Two official investigations did not dispute looting, but found it was not practical to try to recover the funds.

Gordhan’s defence as to why he has not – and will not – implement the Ciex recommendations has done more harm to his detractors than to him.

In court papers he is explicit. The Ciex investigation itself was “intertwined and tainted by nefarious controversy” he said, its recommendations were “bounty hunting” and its had “no legal basis” and attempts to enforce its recommendations were “to attain political ends through litigation and scandalous, vexatious and irrelevant allegations”.

Gordhan has also gone on the offensive in another matter that has badly burnt those seeking to corner him. He has asked the court for an order declaring he does not have the power to intervene in the relationship between the Guptas and their former banks.

Again Gordhan made it plain in court papers what lies at the heart of the issue. It was a “systematic and highly organised campaign by the Gupta family and its associates against the National Treasury, myself and other targets”.

Gordhan isn’t paranoid. His integrity, fiscal frugality and frankness have been a thorn in the side to those seeking to further pillage the country’s resources.

Now the name of the former Eskom head Brian Molefe – an outspoken supporter of the R1-trillion nuclear programme – has surfaced as a possible replacement for Gordhan.

There is little doubt President Jacob Zuma wants Gordhan out of the way. But, while Gordhan may serve in Zuma’s cabinet at his pleasure, if the president fires this finance minister he will do so at great risk to the economy, the country and even the ANC.