Pretoria - The EFF will continue with its planned shutdown of the Pretoria CBD on Wednesday despite National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Shaun Abrahams dropping charges against Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan.
The SACP cancelled its march, while the Save South Africa campaign said it intended going ahead with its people’s assembly.
The EFF march was originally scheduled to coincide with Gordhan’s first court appearance on fraud charges in the Pretoria Regional Court.
EFF acting national spokesman Fana Mokoena said the action was never about the case. The march was going ahead, but the EFF would now demand the immediate resignation of Abrahams. Other burning issues on the EFF memorandum of the demands include a call for President Jacob Zuma to step down.
EFF leader Julius Malema posted on Twitter “we are going ahead with our protest on 2 Nov to demand #shaunabrahams resign and #ZumaMustFall. Let’s meet @ Church Square in Pretoria”.
The EFF would also advocate for the #FeesMustFall campaign.
Mokoena said the march would kick off from Church Square. Marchers would gather from 8am before they depart to the Union Buildings.
Tshwane Metro Police spokesman Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba said other parties, such as the DA and SACP, had applied to march on the day to the court.
Permission was also granted for the EFF to picket outside the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, on Tuesday morning when Zuma was scheduled to attempt to block the state capture report from being made public.
“Motorists are advised to avoid the affected streets and use alternative routes such as Nana Sita, Visagie, Es’kia Mphahlele and Boom streets,” Mahamba said.
The SACP said it had cancelled plans to picket after the fraud charges against Gordhan were dropped. But it still believed the original decision to prosecute the finance minister was part of an agenda to remove him from office.
The SACP has since called for an inquiry into the fitness of Abrahams to hold office, and wants Parliament to intervene.
SACP spokesman Alex Mashilo said: “It is equally important for Parliament to amend the NPA Act to give effect to a parliamentary selection process recommending names for consideration by the president in making the appointment of the national director of public prosecutions in terms of our Constitution.”
Ntsiki Mpulo, of the Save South Africa campaign, said the decision by Abrahams demonstrated the power of civic activism - and it was a clear sign that united people’s pressure could stop further attempts at state capture.
Various organisations and individuals have endorsed Save South Africa and will attend the People’s Assembly on the corner of Bosman and Frances Baard streets on Wednesday morning. The action will go ahead despite the withdrawal of charges against Gordhan.
The supporters include the Active Citizens’ Movement, Ahmed Kathrada, Alexandra Civic Organisation, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein, Council for the Advancement of the SA Constitution, Lawyers for Human Rights and the Treatment Action Campaign.
Mpulo said the charges against Gordhan were dropped because they were spurious and baseless. “They were politically motivated, and part of a broader state capture project to get access to the national purse,” he said.
The NPA had no choice but to back down to avoid humiliation and save face, he added.
“Shaun Abrahams has embarrassed himself and undermined the integrity of the NPA in the process. The same can be said of the head of the Hawks, Berning Ntlemeza.”
Save South Africa appealed to all concerned about corruption to join, not just on November 2, but in the ongoing peaceful campaigns and civic activities for change.
“We have to continue to show that we are committed to this country, its economy and to addressing the acute social crisis brought about by corruption, mismanagement and political intrigue,” it said.
Abrahams withdrew the charges against Gordhan following representations by former SA Revenue Service officials Ivan Pillay and Oupa Magashula. The trio were scheduled to appear in court on charges relating to the approval of the early retirement of Pillay and his re-hiring as a consultant, costing the tax agency R1.1 million.
Abrahams conceded there was no criminal intention by Gordhan to approve Pillay's early retirement in 2010. He said there was no need to charge the three.
The decision to prosecute was a daily occurrence, and served as checks and balances in the Constitution, he said.
He added that he would not be resigning. “Will I resign? Certainly not. Should somebody’s head roll? I will have to look into that.”
Abrahams said he didn’t personally make a decision to prosecute the trio in the first place. “I can’t intervene when a decision to prosecute has been made. This matter was no different from any other.”
Abrahams said he was more upbeat about the integrity of the NPA after he had applied himself to the law and facts around the case.
Pretoria News