Gordhan – prosecution or persecution?
WO tumultuous events in the past week, spurious charges against Pravin Gordhan and President Zuma’s application to interdict the release of Thuli Madonsela’s interim report on ‘state capture’, have set the stage for the final epic battle between the forces of righteousness, justice, honesty, truth, morality and integrity, on the one hand, and evil, unrighteousness, dishonesty immorality, on the other, within one family – the ANC (echoes of Kurukshetra from the Mahabharat).
UCT academic Sean Gossel succinctly assesses the ‘battlefield’: “The one camp is represented by the patronage politics of President Jacob Zuma and the Gupta network. The other includes the National Treasury, stalwarts, the media, non-governmental organisations and business leaders.”
According to Professor Richard Calland: “The stakes have not been higher since the heady days of the early 1990s when South Africa also looked over the brink. Now it is less about brink and more about who will blink: Zuma, or Gordhan, or Abrahams or Ramaphosa.
“Which of these men will do the right thing and accept, or defend, the hard-won principles of constitutional democracy and public accountability that have been so sorely tested since Zuma came to power in 2009”?
The headlines of the past week summed it up aptly: Zuma-Gordhan war over finances approaches endgame; Zuma is fighting on all fronts with an army of incompetents; Gordhan saga shows ANC at war with itself; Has Zuma pushed SA to edge of the abyss too late to turn around?; Huge battle in ANC to access state resources.
Backtrack to Nenegate in December last year, when Zuma was forced to appoint Pravin Gordhan as Minister of Finance, after Des van Rooyen’s disastrous fourday reign in that position. Evidently, the cronies were looking for a pliable minister to loot the Treasury, and when it was clear that Pravin Gordhan was not malleable, rumours that he was being investigated for fraud began to circulate.
Daily Maverick’s Ranjeni Munusamy argued the decision to prosecute Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan suggests “Zuma and his clique are losing control and have thrown caution to the wind”.
Legal boffins agree that the charges of theft and fraud against Gordhan over what at best could be described as an administrative breach, represent a form of vexatious prosecution. There is no evidence that Gordhan benefited personally from any of the decisions made.
According to Professor Pierre de Vos: “The charge of theft against Minister Gordhan, which is levelled as an alternative to the charge of fraud, is truly bizarre. Theft is only proven where the state can show that somebody unlawfully and intentionally appropriated property which belongs to another”.
So because he has refused to do the bidding of those who have captured the state, Gordhan is being persecuted rather than being prosecuted.
So who is in the camp of the righteous? As reported in the Mail and Guardian (October 14), and Sunday Times (October 16), the following high profile ANC leaders have publicly and fearlessly declared their support for Pravin Gordhan:
Enoch Godongwana, ANC head of Economic Transformation: “What he’s been charged with is a standard practice in government. It’s never been considered as a crime.
“A number of us will be marching with all South Africans on November 2 to support Pravin. We cannot be silent as South Africans when people who are running good governance are being undermined. The charge is spurious given the background. Because of that I will not support the call for Pravin to resign.”
Joel Netshitenzhe, ANC NEC member: “It all looks quite suspicious and of course concerning, because of its impact on the economy, but also the impact on the credibility of the ANC and its standing in the public.
“He shouldn’t resign if all those suspicions he holds about the shenanigans might be accurate… because this might precisely be the intention of the charges.”
Joe Phaahla, ANC NEC member and Deputy Health Minister: “I would put my life on this man [Gordhan]… You cannot conclude that these are people who are acting on their own accord. They have got some pressure somewhere to say this man has to go and something [against him] has to be found”.
Jackson Mthembu, ANC chief whip in Parliament: “We will be with him, some of us all the way, to wherever he’s going. We will accompany him there if need be‚ to the courts‚ as an ANC comrade‚ as a… disciplined cadre of our movement‚ and as a wonderful finance minister…
“The charges are a smokescreen with the intention of removing him.
“Those who matter [politically] should have intervened to stop this rubbish. As ANC leaders and NEC members we can’t keep quiet because if we do so, we will be seen as agreeing to this nonsense. I can’t be part of an ANC that is politically persecuting a finance minister who has done so well.”
Zweli Mkhize, ANC treasurer general: “The charges appear thin and are also not convincing, but when we get the details, we’ll probably understand.
“The issues are a bit tricky in the sense that people retire and get brought back. If there was any error in that, it becomes an administrative, internal issue.”
Max Sisulu, ANC NEC member: “To threaten to arrest him at this time, when the economy is in trouble, is bloody foolish.
“The minister is driving the economy in the right direction … Why threaten to arrest somebody who is doing a good job? Pravin has my support. I have faith in him.”
Derek Hanekom, Minister of Tourism: “When a minister is charged with such an absurd charge, you have to start wondering … What lies behind it? And it is difficult not to conclude that there is political motive behind it.”
Finally, the most powerful support for Gordhan came from Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, who many believed had been sitting on the political barbed-wire fence for too long: “As a member of the national executive, I lend my support to Minister Gordhan as he faces charges brought against him by the National Prosecuting Authority … I have no doubt about his commitment in building a better South Africa for all”.
The last word from Minister Gordhan himself: “Oh, my spine is still very straight. My generation are activists of the movement of Mandela, Sisulu, Kathrada, Slovo and many others. And this gives one the sense of what is right and just at any one point in time, and to continue to do what is necessary to promote… social justice. But more importantly, to stand up against injustice…
“We say that we are here to represent the poor’s interest. But when we engage in corrupt practice, we undermine the poor and ensure they do not get what they are entitled to… Who will defend the poor when we are running to get benefits for ourselves?
“We need to hold public officials to account. We must ask necessary questions for the public to understand where the money goes and if there is value for money.”
Of course, Gordhan played one of his trumps when he sought a declaratory court order that the cabinet had no right to get involved in the stalemate between banks and Gupta companies, revealing 72 “suspicious and unusual transactions” totaling R6.8 billion. No doubt, he has several aces up his sleeve.
Brij Maharaj is a geography professor at UKZN. He writes in his
personal capacity