IT IS hardly a week since Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan tabled the budget in the National Assembly and he is already mired in distractive controversy. It is not of his own making, but of those who still wish to capture the Treasury for their selfish gains.
He is apparently under investigation by a unit of the Hawks called the "Crimes Against the State Unit" for what has become known as the South African Revenue Service (SARS) "rogue spying unit" saga. Officially, the Hawks have denied that Mr Gordhan is under investigation, but it is clear that something is up. What it is exactly is difficult to fathom; suffice to say that it must be unsettling for his tenure as finance minister.
The matters relating to this investigating unit at SARS have been ventilated for years. On at least two occasions, the State Security Agency was asked to investigate allegations that SARS had a covert "intelligence gathering" unit in contravention of legislation. At least one of those requests came from former SARS commissioner Oupa Magashula in 2010. When Business Day asked the State Security Agency to say what became of that investigation, it would say only that it was "completed".
It has become very clear the relationship between Mr Gordhan and SARS commissioner Tom Moyane is dysfunctional. When Mr Gordhan was appointed, it was already apparent that the relationship was likely to fail. Quite why President Jacob Zuma, who appointed Mr Moyane without consulting then finance minister Nhlanhla Nene, facilitated this scenario is unclear, but perturbing.
We now have a shadowy unit of a discredited anticorruption police arm investigating and effectively harassing the finance minister at a time when the country can ill afford instability in that portfolio. This does not bode well for SA’s credit rating and must be cause for grave concern. Mr Gordhan may well have questions to answer, but there has been ample opportunity to ask them. SARS has commissioned numerous investigations, none of which thought it was necessary to ask him a single question.
It was Mr Gordhan who repeatedly called Mr Moyane, and the latter failed to return any of his calls or requests for a meeting. It is curious that there is a criminal investigation into the finance minister when all previous investigations by SARS have made no findings against him. It lends credence to claims that this is part of yet another attempt to capture the last remaining institutions that have not been taken over by special interests linked to powerful politicians. In this case, it would be the same interests who stood to benefit from the removal of Mr Nene.
It is little comfort that the African National Congress (ANC) has issued a statement reiterating its support for Mr Gordhan. It is significant, of course, because it has previously baulked at all criticism of its president. It now faces a difficult moment in which it has to choose between supporting the agents of its president and doing the right thing for the country.
Mr Zuma, who is said to support Mr Moyane and the actions of the Hawks against Mr Gordhan, is facing a showdown from which he may not recover. Mr Gordhan’s removal would put paid to any chance of averting a credit rating downgrade and economic catastrophe for SA. Should that scenario unfold, he is unlikely to retain the unquestioning support of the ANC leadership.
However the political fallout unfolds, the current ructions are not good for the country. The capture of state institutions is a systemic problem that has undermined the country’s efforts to grow its economy.
It is astonishing that after the country peered over the precipice in December, moves are afoot to push it over the edge once more. South Africans have to ask serious questions about the political system in place, and ask how much of this they want to put up with.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan delivers his 2016 budget speech in Parliament in Cape Town on Wednesday. Picture: BLOOMBERG/HALDEN KROG
IT IS hardly a week since Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan tabled the budget in the National Assembly and he is already mired in distractive controversy. It is not of his own making, but of those who still wish to capture the Treasury for their selfish gains.
He is apparently under investigation by a unit of the Hawks called the "Crimes Against the State Unit" for what has become known as the South African Revenue Service (SARS) "rogue spying unit" saga. Officially, the Hawks have denied that Mr Gordhan is under investigation, but it is clear that something is up. What it is exactly is difficult to fathom; suffice to say that it must be unsettling for his tenure as finance minister.
The matters relating to this investigating unit at SARS have been ventilated for years. On at least two occasions, the State Security Agency was asked to investigate allegations that SARS had a covert "intelligence gathering" unit in contravention of legislation. At least one of those requests came from former SARS commissioner Oupa Magashula in 2010. When Business Day asked the State Security Agency to say what became of that investigation, it would say only that it was "completed".
It has become very clear the relationship between Mr Gordhan and SARS commissioner Tom Moyane is dysfunctional. When Mr Gordhan was appointed, it was already apparent that the relationship was likely to fail. Quite why President Jacob Zuma, who appointed Mr Moyane without consulting then finance minister Nhlanhla Nene, facilitated this scenario is unclear, but perturbing.
We now have a shadowy unit of a discredited anticorruption police arm investigating and effectively harassing the finance minister at a time when the country can ill afford instability in that portfolio. This does not bode well for SA’s credit rating and must be cause for grave concern. Mr Gordhan may well have questions to answer, but there has been ample opportunity to ask them. SARS has commissioned numerous investigations, none of which thought it was necessary to ask him a single question.
It was Mr Gordhan who repeatedly called Mr Moyane, and the latter failed to return any of his calls or requests for a meeting. It is curious that there is a criminal investigation into the finance minister when all previous investigations by SARS have made no findings against him. It lends credence to claims that this is part of yet another attempt to capture the last remaining institutions that have not been taken over by special interests linked to powerful politicians. In this case, it would be the same interests who stood to benefit from the removal of Mr Nene.
It is little comfort that the African National Congress (ANC) has issued a statement reiterating its support for Mr Gordhan. It is significant, of course, because it has previously baulked at all criticism of its president. It now faces a difficult moment in which it has to choose between supporting the agents of its president and doing the right thing for the country.
Mr Zuma, who is said to support Mr Moyane and the actions of the Hawks against Mr Gordhan, is facing a showdown from which he may not recover. Mr Gordhan’s removal would put paid to any chance of averting a credit rating downgrade and economic catastrophe for SA. Should that scenario unfold, he is unlikely to retain the unquestioning support of the ANC leadership.
However the political fallout unfolds, the current ructions are not good for the country. The capture of state institutions is a systemic problem that has undermined the country’s efforts to grow its economy.
It is astonishing that after the country peered over the precipice in December, moves are afoot to push it over the edge once more. South Africans have to ask serious questions about the political system in place, and ask how much of this they want to put up with.
Change: -1.54%
Change: -1.49%
Change: -2.02%
Change: -0.73%
Change: -4.01%
Data supplied by Profile Data
Change: 0.10%
Change: -0.13%
Change: -1.54%
Change: 0.00%
Change: -0.39%
Data supplied by Profile Data
Change: 1.00%
Change: 0.30%
Change: 0.74%
Change: 0.89%
Change: 0.12%
Data supplied by Profile Data
Change: -1.93%
Change: -3.62%
Change: -3.91%
Change: -3.32%
Change: -1.95%
Data supplied by Profile Data