Johannesburg - Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has hit back at accusations from the EFF that his daughter has benefited financially from government contracts.
Gordhan has labelled the statements that have been repeated by the EFF leadership as "lies".
The minister used his closing remarks at the Zondo commission to clarify the campaign by the EFF.
The party has positioned itself against Gordhan and its leadership has made various accusations against him without providing any evidence to support their claims.
On Wednesday, the EFF tweeted a media statement which alleged that Gordhan's daughter Anusha was benefiting from numerous government contracts through businesses that she holds leadership roles.
The party claimed to have evidence of the contracts and businesses.
Gordhan said those who feel they have information on him should use the inquiry as an avenue to submit evidence.
He said the statements by the EFF were not true and his daughter had not financially benefited from his leadership role in government.
The minister said he was not afraid to face attacks, but that he had an issue with his family being included in the attacks.
"What is unacceptable is an attack on families. Yesterday while we were here, there was a lot of wrong information about my daughter that was put out in the public domain. She (Anusha) joined Investec equity division in 2007. Most financial services institutions invest capital (their own- or third-party investor money) in emerging, privately-owned businesses. The private equity division at Investec invested in privately held companies on behalf of Investec Bank Limited. Investec, the bank, was, therefore is the owner of the shares (not my daughter) of these private businesses," he said.
"None of the directorships my daughter held were in her personal capacity and were always on behalf of her employer. The allegations of her, using the relationship with myself, to get access to government tenders to benefit these companies, is a blatant lie and these dangerous and unfounded allegations have been made to intimidate and harass my family and myself," said Gordhan.
The minister said the continued attacks on individuals that appear before the inquiry could discourage some people from approaching the inquiry and giving evidence.
"Part of what is going on is the descent to racism that we are seeing in this country as a cheap political mechanism to launch attacks," he said.
Commission chair Raymond Zondo said the inquiry would not be deterred from doing its work, even with the public attacks.
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