Tributes pour in for ‘outstanding leader’

Back in SA, not in Gupta court

PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma has instructed that the national flag fly at half-mast at every station from today until Ahmed Kathrada’s memorial service.

According to a statement from the president’s office, Zuma sent his deepest condolences to Kathrada’s wife, former minister of Public Enterprises Barbara Hogan, the Kathrada family and his political home, the ANC, “which Uncle Kathy served selflessly throughout his adult life”.

The statement said the family had requested a private funeral ceremony, and an official memorial service would be organised with the details to be announced soon.

Gwede Mantashe, ANC secretary-general, said: “The nation has lost a titan, an outstanding leader and a great patriot, a man who stands apart for his service to the people of South Africa and to the country.

“The knowledge that Uncle Kathy was in his twilight years has done little to lessen the blow we have been dealt this sad day.”

He added that Kathrada’s life was “a lesson in humility, tolerance, resilience and a steadfast commitment to principle, even when taking a principled stance would place him at odds with his comrades”.

Mmusi Maimane, MP and DA leader, said Kathrada “embodied a profound sense of compassion, and an un- wavering commitment to true justice”.

“As a leader at the forefront of the struggle for liberation, he relentlessly fought for the freedoms we all cherish today.

“I fondly recall the many times I engaged with Uncle Kathy – most notably the conversation we had when he was bestowed with the Freedom of the City of Johannesburg.

“He told me of the years on Robben Island where he – along with the likes of Mandela, Sisulu and Tambo – never heard or saw the presence of children. He shared with me that for him freedom meant hearing the voices of children, indicating his sincere compassion, as well as his commitment to the future of our beautiful country,” said Maimane.

EFF students also offered their condolences, saying Kathrada’s memory “would remain a timeless reminder that apartheid was a Goliath overcame by many Davids”.

“Having received four honorary doctorates, one from Michigan State University, Ahmed Kathrada inspires the youth of today who are resilient in attaining free education in our lifetime,” said Naledi Chirwa, EFF spokesperson.

The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) said: “Uncle Kathy inspired confidence in all South Africans from young to old during both apartheid and the democratic order. He was a fearless man who identified him- self with the marginalised African dispossessed. He remains an inspiration to us.”

Kathrada’s close friend, Essop Pahad, reacted with great sadness over the news.

“Uncle Kathy showed tremendous commitment to the struggle and had great values and principles required of an astute leader.

“He was a great internationalist and dedicated his life to the release of all political prisoners stuck in the dungeons in Israel,” said Pahad.

The Thabo Mbeki Foundation said Kathrada had dedicated all his adult life to the Struggle against apartheid and the construction of a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa.

Former president Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Chief Mandla Mandela, recalled memories of laughter and jokes between Mandela and Kathrada and how he used to call the struggle icon Madala.

“It was a remarkable experience to be around such a man.

“The freedom we have is due to the sacrifices he made,” said Mandela.

Movie mogul Anant Singh said South Africa had lost a father and an inspirational leader among men.

“I remember as though it was yesterday the first time I met him, almost 28 years ago, soon after his release from prison. He has been a part of my life ever since and became part of our family.”

FINANCE Minister Pravin Gordhan and finance directorgeneral Lungisa Fuzile touched down in South Africa today to an unknown future.

Yesterday, President Jacob Zuma took the extraordinary step of ordering that they cut short a trip to London where they were talking to investors.

Neither National Treasury nor Zuma’s office could explain why the embattled finance minister was told to interrupt the post-budget foreign roadshow aimed at reassuring investors about the state of the local economy.

The Presidency earlier said they had been asked to return and that Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas’s planned trip to the US to speak to investors there had been cancelled. He had been expected to leave South Africa last night.

As Gordhan landed in South Africa, his legal team was in the the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, for a declaratory order that he cannot interfere with the decision of the country’s four major banks not to do business with the Guptas and their companies.

Not only had Zuma meanwhile joined the court proceedings as an interested party in the application between Oakbay Investments and Gordhan, but the Gupta’s company, Sahara, in additional heads of argument, seeks a personal punitive costs order against Gordhan.

The minister was not in court at the start of the proceedings and it is not expected that he will attend.

There is also no need for him to be there, as his case would be advanced by his legal team, headed by Advocate Jeremy Gauntlet SC. None of the Gupta family is in court at this stage.

There are about 28 advo- cates in court. The application is being heard by a full Bench, including Judge President Dunstan Mlambo and Deputy Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba.

In its papers Sahara accused the minister of embarking on a “frolic of his own” and of trying to score political points by pressing ahead with his application.

Zuma, in his application to join the proceedings, argued that he would be directly affected in any declaratory order the court may grant.

He said Standard Bank, the 17th respondent in the application, asked that no member of the executive, including the president, should be allowed to intervene in the legal tussle between the banks and the Guptas.

Intervening

Zuma said Standard Bank could not ask for a declaratory order excluding him or any minister from intervening in the closure of the accounts because he was not cited as a party to the proceedings.

Sahara, cited as the 14th respondent, meanwhile, in its additional heads of argument said Gordhan approached this court for declaratory relief in circumstances where there was no dispute between the parties.

Advocate Rafik Bhana SC, argued that not a single party contended that the minister had any power that permitted him to intervene in a private banking relationship where a bank decided to close the accounts of any of their clients, for whatever reason, no matter its unlawfulness.

“Despite this, the minister persists in asking this court to exercise a discretion in his fav o u r. The

ques- tion is: why?”

Bhana said unless the court acknowledged the political context in which Gordhan’s application was brought and recognised that this application was part of his own political strategy to pre-empt action by the cabinet, in particular the president, the court would be in danger of hearing an application that had no business being ventilated before it.

Bhana said the refusal by Gordhan to withdraw his application betrayed his real intent.

According to him, the declaratory order, if granted, would assist Gordhan in his political fight with the president and the cabinet.

“This court must fiercely guard against this and should dismiss the minister’s application for attempting to drag it into a political fight where the involvement would be inappropriate and set a dangerous precedent,” Bhana said in his heads of argument.

Sahara would ask that the court dismiss Gordhan’s application and that the minister personally fork out the legal costs, on a punitive scale.

Gordhan, in his application, said that R6.8 billion in payments made by the Gupta’s companies had been reported to authorities as suspicious.

Several banks, including Standard Bank, Nedbank, Absa and First National Bank as well as some companies cut ties with the Gupta brothers’ Oakbay Investments last year.

The Guptas said they never asked Gordhan to intervene in their relationship with the banks and that they had simply asked for his assistance.

In an earlier statement issued by the Gupta family lawyer, Van Der Merwe and Associates, in response to Gordhan’s affidavit, they welcomed the chance to clear their name in court. They said the application was flawed as the 72 transactions flagged by the Financial Intelligence Centre were approved and cleared by the respective banks which processed them.