WATCH: UJ student slates Gordhan for ‘telling only one side of the story’
'Who has the land today? Who controls the JSE today? Who is in charge of asset management firms today?' asks the student.
Former finance minister Pravin Gordhan and his then deputy Mcebisi Jonas attended a debate at the University of Johannesburg and discussed, among others, how the state was being captured and white monopoly capital.
In his address, Gordhan spoke about how some parastatals, such as Eskom, were stealing money that was meant for public use, criticising the appointments in positions of power.
He said the country would reach a point of no return in 10 years’ time if the looting did not stop. He also commented on the Fees Must Fall campaigns, saying the goal of free education would never be attained if the looting continued.
However, at least one UJ student was not buying Gordhan’s story and accused him of telling one side of the story. He said the minister talked about state looting when, during his tenure, he failed to allocate funds to the students who still owed universities.
When the facilitator tried to cut his speech short, the defiant student slammed her and said what she was doing was exactly what was wrong with South Africa.
“Don’t police engagement, this is a problem in South Africa. This is an institution of higher learning, and you must stop this thing of saying that students at UJ are not smart enough. We’re going to have an engagement, don’t rush us,” he said.
The former minister’s face could tell he was not expecting it at all.
He later responded to the young man, as well as another who had heckled him and Jonas by telling him that everyone knew who had the land and the money in South Africa, but the primary problem was the fact that ANC policy was not being properly implemented.
The other young heckler has accused Gordhan and Jonas of being empty of ideology, which both Jonas and Gordhan appeared to find rather amusing.
News channel ANN7 interviewed the two hecklers afterwards, and they continued to share their views on why they had found the presentation by Gordhan disappointing.
Watch the videos below:
https://youtu.be/aXYy6oLlNNg
