Hell of a week for Gordhan
It’s raining complaints as minister prepares to appear at state capture commission and faces grilling by public protector
Public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan, who has made it his mission to clear out the rot in state-owned companies, faces at least three public protector complaints.
It came to light last week that public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane was investigating Gordhan’s role in the early retirement package offered to former SA Revenue Service (Sars) deputy commissioner Ivan Pillay in 2010.
This is based on a complaint by Lebogang Hoveka – a former speech writer to then president Jacob Zuma – in November 2016. Hoveka now works in the office of the deputy president.
The EFF has lodged two other complaints against Gordhan, accusing him of lying to parliament about his interactions with the Gupta family and for his role at Sars and the establishment of the so-called “rogue unit”.
The EFF is dredging up allegations against Gordhan which were used by Zuma and his allies in the ANC to fire him as finance minister. The Red Berets have accused Gordhan of implementing a “reign of terror” at stateowned companies.
Since his appointment as public enterprises minister in February, he has replaced a number of boards in state entities, notably at Transnet and Denel.
His return has seen a number of public servants and executives implicated in state capture stepping down. The EFF has accused the minister of violating his oath of office after he omitted in parliamentary questions that he had met with an Indian businessman and one of the Gupta brothers. Gordhan, in his statement to the commission, said he forgot about the meeting and stressed that he did not recall the details. He is expected to
‘‘ EFF has accused the minister of violating his oath of office
testify about this at the inquiry this week.
EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu has also asked Mkhwebane to investigate Gordhan’s role in setting up the high-risk investigation unit and issues relating to intelligence gathering at Sars. The Nugent inquiry said the “rogue unit” was not unlawful. Shivambu has also sent questions to Gordhan around these allegations and whether he had used Sars to illegally gather intelligence on Zuma, among other things. Gordhan’s spokeperson Adriaan Lackay confirmed receipt of Shivambu’s letter. Gordhan’s lawyer, Tebogo Malatji, has indicated that the minister will appear before Mkhwebane this week. But he said the public protector had yet to provide particulars and evidence of “maladministration, dishonesty or impropriety” referred to in a letter she sent to Gordhan. Public protector spokesman Oupa Segalwe said the first four letters sent to Gordhan and mailed in February were for the purpose of requesting documents as part of the preliminary investigation. The required documents never came and so Gordhan was subpoenaed, he said.