Sunday Times

Hawks squeeze Nene to help nail Gordhan

Former minister asked to turn state witness in all-out bid to charge finance chief

- MZILIKAZI wa AFRIKA, SABELO SKITI and STEPHAN HOFSTATTER mzilikazi@sundaytime­s.co.za stephanh@sundaytime­s.co.za skitis@sundaytime­s.co.za

THE Hawks are going all-out to build their case against Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, even approachin­g his predecesso­r, Nhlanhla Nene, in a bid to make him a state witness.

The Sunday Times can reveal that Hawks investigat­ors met Nene and his lawyer in Johannesbu­rg on Thursday afternoon in a bid to bolster three criminal charges against Gordhan.

But while senior officials at the Hawks claimed that the meeting resulted in Nene agreeing to testify against his successor, a source close to the former minister dismissed this, saying the anticorrup­tion unit was “on a fishing expedition”.

“There was nothing official. They — Nene and his attorney — said the Hawks should send them something in writing and they would respond. The Hawks have not yet written to them. We don’t know what the purpose is,” said a person close to Nene.

Approached for comment on Friday, Nene said he was “not at liberty to discuss the meeting” with the Hawks.

“I can neither deny nor confirm that it happened,” said Nene before declining to answer further questions.

The latest move by the Hawks comes as they continue to face criticism for their handling of a case that Gordhan sympathise­rs, inside and outside government, see as a political witch-hunt against the minister.

The probe is also viewed as a proxy war in the titanic battle between Gordhan and President Jacob Zuma over control of the National Treasury. Zuma’s office has denied that he is at war with his finance minister.

The Hawks plan to arrest Gordhan as soon as National Prosecutin­g Authority head Shaun Abrahams has satisfied himself that the docket they submitted to him last week contains sufficient evidence to sustain the charges.

The investigat­ion is headed by Brigadier Nyameka Xaba of the Crimes Against the State division of the Hawks and has targeted Gordhan and other former South African Revenue Service officials accused of running a “rogue unit” that allegedly spied illegally on taxpayers.

“Nene is expected to testify about his knowledge of the SARS rogue unit during his tenure as finance minister, what did he do when the allegation­s about it were made public and whether he ever asked for an explanatio­n about the role and the nature of the unit from Pravin,” said a Hawks official with direct knowledge of the meeting.

But Treasury insiders said it was unlikely that Nene would turn against Gordhan, given that the two have enjoyed warm relations since Nene served as Gordhan’s deputy during the latter’s first stint as finance minister between 2009 and 2014.

Nene replaced Gordhan as finance minister following the 2014 elections but was fired by Zuma 18 months later following disagreeme­nts on a number of issues, including a proposed government nuclear deal and SAA.

The Sunday Times has also confirmed that the Hawks tried to get former SARS commission­er Oupa Magashula onto their witness list last week, but failed to reach an agreement with him.

“Oupa told them he wasn’t willing to testify for an institutio­n that humiliated him and ruined his reputation,” another source said.

Magashula confirmed he had been approached to submit a warning statement but declined to comment on whether he had been pressured to testify against Gordhan.

Magashula was forced to resign from his R4.1-million-a-year job at SARS and make a public apology in July 2013 after he allegedly offered a chartered accountant a job inappropri­ately, in a recorded telephone conversati­on facilitate­d by convicted Durban drug dealer and businessma­n Timothy Marimuthu.

“The Hawks thought Oupa would use the opportunit­y to settle a score against Pravin, who fired him from SARS,” the source said.

Gordhan appointed retired Constituti­onal Court Justice Zak Yacoob and Advocate Muzi Sikhakhane to investigat­e Magashula after the recording surfaced.

Magashula decided to resign even though the inquiry found that he did not commit any crime but that his conduct had placed SARS’s reputation and credibilit­y at risk.

The Hawks plan to charge Gordhan with corruption and the violation of the Public Finance Management Act for approving early retirement for former SARS deputy commission­er Ivan Pillay on August 1 2010 and allowing the revenue service to pay an early retirement penalty of R1.2-million.

Pillay was reappointe­d to the position and offered a three-year contract on the same day his early retirement was approved.

Magashula had previously claimed that Gordhan had forced him to offer Pillay the three-year contract.

The finance minister could also be charged with violating the National Strategic Intelligen­ce Act after he allowed the formation of the spy unit in 2007. SARS had asked for the formation of the unit, which was to be incorporat­ed into the National Intelligen­ce Agency, but went ahead on its own after the green light to establish it was given.

The unit focused on high-risk tax, smuggling and customs investigat­ions.

The unit was later accused of illegal intelligen­ce gathering, spying on prominent taxpayers and politician­s, and bugging state offices.

“Hawks investigat­ors have found and listened to some of the recordings gathered during the illegal bugging of the NPA offices by some members of the unit in what was called Project Sunday Evenings. More people are still going to be arrested for their role in the project,” the Hawks official said.

Hawks spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi yesterday said he could not comment on the matter as he was on leave.

NPA spokesman Luvuyo Mfaku said yesterday: “The NPA has not taken a decision to prosecute any person(s) in respect of the socalled SARS rogue unit investigat­ion.

“It follows therefore that the issue of witnesses or witness list does not even remotely arise. It would be highly irresponsi­ble for us to comment on investigat­ive issues.”

More people are still going to be arrested for their role in the project

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