“I believe this attack on Gordhan is politically motivated because he is in dire opposition to President Zuma”, Andre Duvenhage, politics professor at Northwest University told Anadolu Agency.
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South African President Jacob Zuma supports his Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan but will not stop the probe into his alleged connection with a spy unit, the Presidency said Thursday.
The finance minister said he would not be available to meet the Hawks at 14:00 on Thursday as requested.
Zuma’s office has not commented on the latest developments.
“President Jacob Zuma wishes to express his full support and confidence in the minister of finance and emphasises the fact that the minister has not been found guilty of any wrongdoing”, Presidency spokesperson Bongani Ngqulunga said. He has denied the allegation.
“With predictions of zero growth in 2016, stubbornly high unemployment, persistent poverty and inequality and a volatile currency, this is not the time, if there ever was, to be playing such risky games”, 21 economists at four of the country’s leading universities said in a statement.
The Hawks – and indirectly the President – are destroying all the efforts of South Africans who are committed to make sure that poverty, inequality and unemployment is resolved.
At the time of Van Rooyen’s appointment, business leaders lobbied Zuma to reverse course.
“I would like, standing here (sic) to pledge my total confidence in the minister of finance, [and] in the way that he has been doing his work”.
“Concerns about the police investigating South Africa’s finance minister, and worries about Turkey’s newly launched military campaign in Syria have continued to sap sentiment in emerging markets”, he adds.
“If they arrest PG [Pravin Gordhan] then they will say they need to bring in two people… the same thing that happened in December [when Nene was removed] is going to be re-enacted again”, the insider was quoted saying.
The rand had fallen more than 1% against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday morning.
The Hawks wants Gordhan to be prosecuted for “espionage” in a case related to the activities of the SARS “rogue unit” established while he was the tax agency’s commissioner between 1999 and 2009.
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Mondi is one of the signatories of the open letter.
