Parliament - On the eve of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan setting out the country’s fiscal path for the next three years, President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday said he won’t be intervening in the criminal prosecution hanging over the minister’s head, claiming he does not have the power or right to interfere.
Speaking during a question-and-answer session in the National Council of Provinces, Zuma denied ever having influenced National Prosecuting Authority boss Shaun Abrahams to prosecute Gordhan as has been suggested by many commentators who believe the fraud charges pending against the minister are part of a war over control of South Africa’s fiscus.
“No individual is given a right…to interfere with independent processes and decisions of independent institutions,” said Zuma.
“I think if this president was to interfere in any matter, either of chapter nine institutions or other institutions, then it would be close to a banana republic.”
Asked pointedly why he and several cabinet ministers met with Abrahams at Luthuli House, the ANC headquarters in Johannesburg, a day before Gordhan received a summons to appear in court on fraud charges, Zuma said the finance minister’s pending prosecution was never discussed.
“Firstly the matter of the minister, I think I wouldn’t want to push it, is before court ...and I must also say the matter was never discussed between Abrahams and the president,” he said.
“The meeting that the honourable member is referring to… that meeting was a meeting between the president and the security cluster and was on a totally different issue…”
Zuma reiterated that cabinet as a collective, as well as business, religious and community leaders, supported Gordhan, while at the same time respecting the rule of law and independence of law enforcement and prosecution authorities.
“The support is being expressed because of the belief in the rule of law and in the fact that the Minister has not been found guilty of any crime,” he said.
“He is innocent until found guilty by a competent court of law like all citizens.”
While acknowledging that the charges against Gordhan were cause for concern, especially among “investor communities”, Zuma said only the courts could pronounce on the matter.
Asked about the pending visit by representatives of credit rating agencies, who are expected to conduct an assessment of the country next month before issuing their findings in December, Zuma said government intended to continue in approaching economic and fiscal policy in a prudent manner.
“There is no doubt that adhering to this approach has helped preserve South Africa’s credit rating,” he said.
“We take the agencies and their work very seriously because it is also another mechanism through which governments take stock of the work they do and ensure continuous improvements in governance.”
Gordhan is expected to take to the podium in the National Assembly at 2pm on Wednesday, where he is expected to announce reduced growth and revenue estimates. The embattled minister would have to tell the country how to kickstart the country’s lagging economic growth, cut debt and fat, and how he will find the money to fund government priorities.
These priorities would include finding the billions needed to subsidise poor students who have been exempted from paying tuition fee hikes at universities and colleges next year.
Gordhan has had to contend with criminal charges against him while preparing, along with his team from national treasury, the voluminous medium-term budget policy statement.
Gordhan and former South African Revenue Service employees, Oupa Magashula and Ivan Pillay, face charges of fraud related to Pillay’s early retirement in 2010. They are expected to appear in the Pretoria Regional Court for the first time next Wednesday.
African News Agency