FirstRand agrees on Gupta ties decision
FIRSTRAND said it agreed with Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan that he could not interfere with its decision to cut ties with the Gupta family.
Gordhan last week asked the High Court to order that he had no authority to stop banks from closing accounts of Gupta-controlled Oakbay Investments, following repeated requests to do so by the family, who are friends of President Jacob Zuma.
Should the banks join Gordhan’s application, it may open the way for lenders to explain their actions, which they have so far refused to do because of client confidentiality issues.
“FirstRand supports the position of the minister of finance that he is neither empowered or obliged by law to intervene,” FirstRand said. The group’s attorneys would advise FirstRand on how to address the matter, it said.
Deadline
Old Mutual’s Nedbank Group was still considering the “best way forward” with its legal team and would let the state attorney know by the deadline today on whether to join or oppose Gordhan’s application, the company said.
Barclays Africa Group was also taking advice, the lender said. Standard Bank Group declined to comment.
Meanwhile, the chances of Gordhan keeping his job after prosecutors charged him with fraud brightened on Wednesday after he won the backing of the cabinet and Zuma appointed him to a task force on education.
“The cabinet has affirmed its support for Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan,” Jeff Radebe, a minister in the presidency, said following a cabinet meeting. He was “innocent until otherwise proven by a court of law”.
Speculation has been rife that Gordhan was on the verge of being fired after prosecutors said on October 11 that he would be charged for fraudulently approving the early retirement of a former colleague and then rehiring him on a contract basis.
Political
Gordhan, who has clashed with Zuma over the management of state companies and the national tax agency, said the case was a political stitch-up and he had nothing to answer for.
Gordhan has been a key driver of a campaign to maintain South Africa’s investment-grade credit rating, up for review over the next two months.
He has received the backing of senior officials, including Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.