No reason for Pravin to step down - Mantashe
Johannesburg - Pravin Gordhan can continue being finance minister and still deal with the fraud charge against him, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said on Friday.
“You have a court case, you deal with that, but you do your work. People don’t stop doing their work because they have court cases,” he told News 24.
Calls from some ANC members for Gordhan to step down were premature, he said. Questions had been raised about why he had not stepped down or why the party’s integrity committee had not taken action against him.
“If you want him to go to the integrity commission and say ‘step down’, you are putting the cart before the horse.”
The National Prosecuting Authority head Shaun Ahrahams announced last week on Tuesday that Gordhan, former deputy SARS commissioner Ivan Pillay and former SARS commissioner Oupa Magashula, would be charged with fraud relating to Pillay’s early retirement and the extension of his contract.
They are due to appear in the Pretoria Regional Court on November 2.
Mantashe said Gordhan was doing a good job.
Some ANC members had claimed State resources were being abused to force him out of office due to his attempts to crack down on corruption and maladministration in President Jacob Zuma’s Cabinet. Others have called on him to face the music in court.
Mantashe said the case should not be allowed to divide the party.
“We must accept that ANC members have different views on this matter. We must facilitate an engagement of ANC views on the matter, so that we agree on how to deal with it,” Mantashe said.
State capture report won’t divide the ANC
There is no reason for former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s state capture report to divide the ruling party said Mantashe during the interview. This was just hours before it was revealed that new public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane would not oppose President Jacob Zuma’s court bid to delay the release of a report into allegations of being captured by the influential Gupta family. It’s been alleged the family has interfered in key decisions by Zuma including the appointment of ministers.
Mantashe said the ANC attempted to investigate the matter, but it was fruitless.
“We opened the investigation; they [members of the party who made the claims] didn’t come forward and trusted someone else. Its fine,” said Mantashe.
ANC members including deputy finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas and former member of parliament Vytjie Mentor claimed they were both approached by the family offering them ministerial positions,
Mantashe said the report compiled by the former public protector, who has been criticised in some quarters for rushing the investigation wouldn’t be seen as an issue in the party as long as it was accurate.
“If it’s factual, it’s not sensational, not trying to exaggerate it will help us see through the issues.”
The report is currently under lock and key, what happens with it will be determined by court proceedings as the president is seeking to delay the release of the report with an application for an an interdict due to be heard on the 1 st of November.
The ANC SG who has been out of the country said he raised concerns at Madonsela’s farewell dinner last month that some were seeing the investigation as a possible final nail in the coffin in attempts of getting rid of the president.
“I hinted on the report, many in certain circles refer to it as a final push, if it’s used as that then the intention is bad but if it is intending to give us factional information then it would be a point of learning,” said Mantashe.
Don’t be a celebrity – Mantashe tips Mkhwebane
Mantashe also cautioned new Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane from trying to be a media darling, but instead suggested she should focus on her work.
“The public protector is not a celebrity,” Mantashe told News24.
He said she should not be driven by the media and publicity but instead performing her task well.
It’s been a week in office for Mkhwebane who took over from South Africa’s beloved Advocate Thuli Madonsela, after the latter’s tenure expired at midnight on the 14 th of October.
Mkhwebane has already gained lots of criticism since her appearance in Parliament on Wednesday where she announced that she’s banned consultants and would not accept donor funds for the office.
At her maiden media briefing on Thursday Mkhwebane defended her position regarding donor funding as having to want to protect the independence of her office, the issue came up during her appearance in Parliament where she was asked about whether donor funding would compromise the institution, this after a revelation that USAID had given the public protector’s office $500 000.
The ANC SG said he felt the controversy around the donation, which the previous public protector had also sought to clarify, could have been better handled.
“I think it could have been handled better if at the point of funding there was an element of disclosure it would have helped especially if its American funded when we all know in the continent that American funding is channel to distraction,” he said, adding that often when American funding came to the African continent if left a lot of destruction in its wake.
“She must investigate cases referred to her, make the findings, hand over reports and that’s it,” Mantashe said of his expectations on Mkhwebane.
