[MUST LISTEN] Gordhan attacks ‘fuelled by forces of state capture’
The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation believes the calls for Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to step down are an attempt to regain power over state-owned entities by those implicated in state capture.
On Wednesday, a group of ANC veterans claimed that recent criticism of Gordhan is unjustified and is actually aimed at President Cyril Ramphosa.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and a faction within the ANC have all called for Gordhan’s head.
READ: ANC Veterans: 'True target of Gordhan attacks is Ramaphosa'
Gordhan is under pressure due to the poor performance of state-owned enterprises, with the calls growing louder following Eskom’s inability to keep the lights on at the start of the new year.
Executive Director of the Kathrada Foundation Neeshan Balton says comments against Gordhan are fuelled by his apparent promotion of anti-corruption in governance.
“The singling out of Gordhan by particularly those who have been implicated in state capture does indicate an agenda which is beyond then just looking at fixing up Eskom but ensuring the forces of state capture and find a way into getting back into state-owned enterprises.
“There is a wider agenda at play, one has to only look at the people who have been at the forefront of these attacks, former minister Mosebenzi Zwane, Bathabile Dlamini and a whole range of others.”
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