NPA boss Shaun Abrahams’ gung-ho tactics should worry most South Africans, writes Sechaba ka’Nkosi.
On Tuesday, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) gave us the best meaning of George Orwell’s law of equality.
After spending months trying to find fault with reasons why most straight-thinking South Africans hold Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in high regard, the NPA finally charged him with fraud.
According to NPA boss Shaun Abrahams, Gordhan must appear in court next month for extending former SA Revenue Service (Sars) acting commissioner Ivan Pillay’s contract when it expired.
Abrahams called this fraud and said it constituted the contravention of the Public Finance Management Act.
He swore by whatever was most sacred to him that he was not pursuing charges that the Hawks were investigating on the establishment of an alleged rogue unit within Sars and that his was a quest for justice.
So Gordhan, a former Sars commissioner himself, will be joined in the dock by his successor, Oupa Magashule, and Pillay to tell the courts why they should not face the full might of the law for extending the contract that caused the revenue service to lose R1.14 million.
In a different world, people would laugh at Abrahams because the extension of contracts in the civil service is a norm, even though he cannot recall a single incident where this has been done. They will wonder why current commissioner Tom Moyane, who paid Pillay R3.9m and other officials almost R5m to leave Sars has not been charged.
But now for the NPA to charge Gordhan. It will be costly for the state to try to prove that it amounts to fraud. And not just money.
The move will be felt by the general populace in months and years to come as the markets and economy voice their view on the absurdity of the farce Abrahams calls charges that can withstand the scrutiny of the law. We have been there before.
In December, when President Jacob Zuma fired Nhlanhla Nene and replaced him with a little-known figure who could not run a small municipality, the rand plummeted 5.4 percent against the dollar in a single day.
The JSE financial 15 index fell 13.36 percent; the banks index dropped 18.54 percent; and the all share index shed 2.94 percent.
The market capitalisation of the whole JSE went down by 1.49 percent to R11.18 trillion - a loss of R169.6 billion. The benchmark government bond, the R186 - which was trading on a yield of 8.66 percent at the beginning of the fateful week - ended the week at 10.4 percent.
But we never learned.
So yesterday, the market once again reminded us how vulnerable we are to such reckless expedition.
The rand fell to a three-month low, dropping 3.4 percent against the dollar and yields on government bonds due December 2026 soared 24 basis points to 8.94 percent. Bank stocks once again plunged, sending an index of six lenders down as much as 5 percent, reflecting investor concerns that their funding costs will climb.
That is why Abrahams’ gung-ho tactics should worry most South Africans as their effect on the economy will be felt by the poorest of poor.
Food prices are sure to surge, leading to imports of staple foods such as maize to record highs.
Our cost of borrowing will also be higher, meaning we will be forced to pay more for servicing our debt.
And one day when we do the analysis of how Abrahams assisted in pushing our economy to junk status, we will know that sometimes national interests supersede the farce that the NPA has become.
BUSINESS REPORT