Pravin Gordhan, the founding commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (SARS), twice finance minister and the face of the resistance against the Zuma and Gupta-led project of state capture, died on Friday morning According to a statement from his family, Gordhan “passed away peacefully in hospital surrounded by his family, closest friends and his lifelong comrades in the liberation struggle” The statement added that Gordhan’s message to friends and family was that he had “no regrets, no regrets…We have made our contribution” He is survived by his wife Vanitha, and his daughters, Anisha and Priyesha Gordhan was admitted to the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre in Johannesburg on Tuesday after a recent cancer diagnosis The former freedom fighter and trained pharmacist retired from politics after the national and provincial elections in May, following a lifetime in politics He became a lightning rod for vicious attacks and racial slurs because of his firm resistance to state capture, the project of grand corruption facilitated by former president Jacob Zuma, acting in concert with the Gupta extraction enterprise and various ANC patronage networks During his second stint as finance minister, between December 2015 and March 2017, Gordhan and the senior leadership at National Treasury were the last line of defence against complete Zuma-Gupta capture of the state in which Treasury and the SA Reserve Bank was the biggest prize His last posting in government, however, as the Minister of Public Enterprises, was unsuccessful because of the inability of various parastatals to improve their performance Eskom was plagued by load shedding, mismanagement and corruption, while his attempts to offload SAA to private investors were disastrous Appointed first commissioner of the newly established SARS in 1998, Gordhan is credited with building a receiver of revenue that was considered a world leader in innovation and technology It was under his leadership that the government was able to improve tax collection between 1998 and 2009 This enabled the state to expand a range of service delivery projects, including expenditure on health, education and infrastructure to help eradicate the country’s apartheid legacy He, along with Trevor Manuel, who was finance minister between 1996 and 2009, also approved the establishment of a dedicated investigations unit at SARS to help the government combat organised crime and illicit money flows, which cost the fiscus billions of rand every year This later became the source of rampant disinformation campaigns and the basis of attempts to remove him from office and undermine his reputation and authority Following the victory of Zuma at the ANC’s national conference at Polokwane in 2007, and Zuma’s election as head of state in June 2009, Gordhan replaced the long-serving Manuel as finance minister His appointment was widely welcomed because of his position as SARS commissioner and because he was part of Manuel’s so-called finance family, which adhered to prudent fiscal policies and responsible spending practices Gordhan was removed as finance minister shortly after the 2014 national and provincial elections, with Zuma moving him to the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs He was replaced by Nhlanhla Nene, who was until then chairperson of the Standing Committee on Finance In 2015, as the Zuma-Gupta project of state capture was nearing its high-water mark, Zuma dismissed Nene after the latter’s refusal to agree to an agreement which would see South Africa procuring nuclear power stations from Russia In the melee that followed, Gordhan was returned to the finance ministry despite Zuma’s fundamental and deep distrust of the man What followed was a sustained campaign against him and Treasury, driven by the president and assisted by acolytes such as Shaun Abrahams, then-national director of public prosecutions Berning Ntlemeza, the head of the Hawks, and Cabinet ministers, including David Mahlobo, Nathi Nhleko, Nomvula Mokonyane and Bathabile Dlamini Abrahams relentlessly pursued trumped-up criminal charges against Gordhan, Ntlemeza harassed Gordhan incessantly, and Mahlobo, Nhleko, Mokonyane and Dlamini attacked him in Cabinet and in public Mahlobo remains a deputy minister, Mokonyane is one of the ANC’s deputy secretaries-general, and Nhleko is now with Zuma’s MK Party Tom Moyane, who was appointed SARS commissioner in September 2014, also refused to accept Gordhan’s authority as finance minister and, despite efforts by Gordhan to rein him in, Moyane proceeded to almost destroy the receiver During his second tenure as finance minister, Gordhan sought to limit the rampant corruption that became brazen and pervasive, bringing him into direct conflict with Zuma and his network Gordhan stopped a corrupt deal that was advocated by SAA board chairperson Dudu Myeni, a close confidant of Zuma He also looked to limit the influence of the Guptas at parastatals, and started investigating unfolding events at Eskom, Transnet, Prasa and other state-owned enterprises He turned Treasury into the most transparent of government departments to shore up his defences against the relentless campaign by Zuma In May 2016, he issued a remarkable statement calling on the public to “defend National Treasury and its employees”, who were trying their best “under extraordinary circumstances” Senior officials at Treasury, and those in his inner circle at the ministry, were fiercely loyal to him, supporting his efforts to beat back the Zuma-Gupta assault Source: NewsDay Zimbabwe All Zim News is a central hub for all things Zimbabwean, curating news from across the country so no story is missed Alongside aggregation, our team of nationwide reporters provides real-time, on-the-ground coverage Stay informed and connected — reach us at admin@allzimnews.com. Source: Newsday
