Hawks to swoop on Pravin
NPA receives docket on the Sars rogue unit
THE HAWKS have moved a step closer to arresting Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan after the National Prosecuting Authority confirmed it has received the docket relating to the Sars rogue unit
This followed intense speculation in the past week after Gordhan failed to show up at the Hawks’ offices on Thursday for a warning statement .
NPA spokesman Luvuyo Mfaku confirmed yesterday that Gordhan and two former senior officials at Sars face charges. However, he did not indicate when Gordhan was going to be formally charged.
“We confirm receipt of the docket relating to the Sars rogue unit matter on Friday,” said Mfaku.
“Prosecutors are going to analyse and evaluate the evidence contained in the docket. If there is no out- standing investigation, a decision on whether or not to prosecute any person will be made,” he said without mentioning Gordhan by name.
The finance minister is at the centre of the probe by the Hawks, and the NPA was preparing to arrest him. But Mfaku said that decision had not been made yet. He could not say whether Gordhan would appear in court soon. “No decision has been taken to prosecute any person in relation to the matter,” he added.
The confirmation by the NPA came after Gordhan told National Treasury staff members on Friday that the Guptas were behind his troubles with the Hawks.
He said he was fighting a battle to “save the country’s purse from the thieves”.
But the Guptas denied any involvement in the prosecution of Gordhan by the Hawks, saying they were business people and not involved in politics.
At the weekend, the Guptas announced they were selling all their businesses in South Africa. They said they had already spoken to some of the prospective international buyers of their companies, none of which were named.
Treasury spokeswoman Phumza Macanda could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Gordhan has received backing from Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, who said the minister was a man with an unquestionable integrity. The SACP yesterday also came out in defence of Gordhan.
This followed the attack on Gordhan by his cabinet colleague, Des van Rooyen, who called on him to subject himself to the law. Van Rooyen, who briefly succeeded Nhlanhla Nene at the Treasury in December before the markets imploded, said Gordhan was not above the law.
He said even President Jacob Zuma subjected himself to the same process when he was pursued by law enforcement agencies a few years ago. Van Rooyen, who is minister of co-operative governance and traditional affairs, had a four-day stint in the Treasury.
The SACP said the putative charges against the finance minister were politically motivated.
“They are designed as a pretext to remove Comrade Gordhan from office and weaken Treasury’s struggle against corruption and corporate capture,” said SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande at a media briefing in Joburg following the party’s central committee meeting at the weekend.
Prosecutors are going to analyse and evaluate evidence
AN URGENT tripartite alliance political council should be convened to address the decline in electoral support for the ANC and to start preparing for the 2019 general elections by being responsive to issues that affect communities, the SA National Civic Organisation (Sanco) said yesterday.
“Areas of discontent that our communities have raised and those that influenced them not to vote for the ANC during the local government elections must be confronted and resolved without further delay,” Sanco general secretary Skhumbuzo Mpanza said.
He was announcing key resolutions adopted at the national executive committee (NEC) meeting held over two days at St George’s Hotel outside Pretoria.
Mpanza said Sanco, as a people-centred and peopledriven organisation, had committed itself to reclaiming values such as selflessness, humility, and discipline, including unwavering commitment to serve communities and to strive to close the social distance with the masses.
”Our frank and robust analysis of the local government elections results has informed us that the masses of our people have spoken. If the ANC is out of power, it is communities of South Africa, especially the poor, who will bear the brunt of policies that are not pro-poor.”
The NEC had called on alliance leaders “to sober up and realise that it would be a huge betrayal to be in denial about what needs to be urgently done to save the national democratic revolution”.
“We have collectively paid dearly for the arrogance and corruption that we should have dealt with decisively and not cowered and retreated at their advance. It is now time for a gear-changer,” Mpanza said.
After protracted deliberations, the NEC acknowledged it was the task of the ANC’s democratic structures to decide on the need for their organisation’s early conference.
The NEC cautioned that public spats between Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and the Hawks were not in the interests of the country’s economic recovery plan and efforts to avoid a credit downgrade, which would hurt the poor.
“Although we subscribe to the principle of equality before the law and believe that Gordhan’s non-co-operation could set a bad precedent, misinformation as well as blow-by-blow investigation through the media undermines confidentiality, co-operative governance and professionalism. We appeal for due processes of the law to be followed,” Mpanza said. – ANA
Discontent with the ANC must be confronted