Gordhan speaks out against ‘attacks’ on his department

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has spoken out against attacks on National Treasury during a post-national budget breakfast show hosted by the SABC on Thursday.

Gordhan – who tabled the R1.56 trillion budget in the National Assembly on Wednesday – has suggested that the attacks against his department are spearheaded by “those who have ulterior motives to pocket public funds”.

“They have an orchestrated campaign with fake Twitter and Facebook accounts and an entire channel dedicated to attack National Treasury.

“What is there to hide at the end of the day? And why has National Treasury all of a sudden become so important? Those are the questions South Africans need to ask in all earnestness and try to get some answers,” Gordhan said.

Last week, Treasury cautioned the public and the media about what it called a “disinformation campaign” that had been waged against the minister before his budget presentation to the nation.

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“In the past few days, various attacks and unfounded allegations have been made with the intention to misdirect the leadership’s focus. Coupled with that are allegations that are reported without any further interrogation or establishing the veracity thereof,” Treasury spokesperson Yolisa Tyantsi said at the time.

In his interview with the public broadcaster, Gordhan questioned why Treasury was a target of the campaign when it was just one part of government and not the only ministry responsible for infrastructure that should be scrutinised.

When asked why he used the word “transformation” 50 times in his speech instead of “radical economic transformation”, as mentioned by President Jacob Zuma in his State of the Nation Address (Sona) earlier this month, Gordhan had a different opinion.

“The deeper question is what are the slogan and narrative about? Is it about genuine empowering the marginalised and poor?

“Or is it about the covering up of patronage where a select few benefit from the process and the marginalised are left behind? Will these slogans take us back to last year where people are trying to get access to the public purse?” he responded.