Gordhan: One of the most influential politicians yet seen in SA

Pravin Jamnandas Gordhan, who died from cancer yesterday at the age of 75, was not a prominent party activist but he was by no means a small man of politics.

Through his work in the state he became a giant who will be remembered as one of the most influential politicians the country has yet had.

In both the ANC and the South African Communist Party (SACP), which be belonged to, they respected “comrade PG”, as they affectionately called him.

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Gordhan had the ear of President Cyril Ramaphosa right up to the end, when he decided to quit the government in June 2024, having served in different Cabinet portfolios continuously for 15 years.

The president hung onto him despite calls by some to ditch him for the failing state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and his alleged leadership mishaps in the latter part of his career.

Gordhan cuts his teeth in politics

Born on 12 April, 1949 in Durban, Gordhan obtained his bachelor of pharmacy degree at the University of Durban-Westville in 1973.

This led to his internship at then King Edward VIII Hospital, now Chief Albert Luthuli Memorial Hospital.

He was fired after apartheid authorities detained him.

Gordhan cut his teeth in politics at the Natal Indian Congress (NIC), which elected him into its executive council in 1974 As an NIC activist, Gordhan naturally moved into ANC and later SACP activism in the 1970s.

He was tasked with establishing ANC and SACP underground cells in Natal during this period.

Gordhan was part of the joint delegation of the NIC and the Transvaal Indian Congress at the Convention for a Democratic SA (Codesa) in 1991.

He served on the Codesa steering and planning committees. He was subsequently appointed co-chair of the Transitional Executive Council, which served as an interim government, alongside Ramaphosa and Roelf Meyer.

This made him part of the team that prepared the first democratic election in 1994. He was also among the drafters of SA’s interim constitution.

In 2009 former president Jacob Zuma picked him as his minister of finance.

The markets adored him. He relied strongly on belt-tightening and fiscal prudence, a legacy the National Treasury still follows.

And as commissioner of the SA Revenue Service (Sars), he turned it into a world-class tax collector.

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Gordhan at finance ministry, public enterprises

But, in 2015, when Zuma got his staunch ally, Des van Rooyen, to replace Nhlanhla Nene, the markets reacted angrily.

This forced Zuma to remove Van Rooyen and bring back Gordhan.

He held the position until Ramaphosa appointed him as his minister of public enterprises.

It later emerged that Gordhan became a stumbling block in an attempt to capture the National Treasury in a plot involving Zuma, his allies and the Guptas.

His new task was to fix the ailing state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The jury is still out on that as the parastatals are still on their knees.

However, he succeeded in exposing the capture of the SOEs by ANC leaders. Despite being a senior SACP member, he still espoused neoliberal policies which led to him being pilloried by the tripartite alliance and the EFF.

He was once embroiled in a stand-off with the Hawks over a “rogue unit” in Sars.

Later, audit firm KPMG withdrew its report on the unit and this absolved Gordhan from any wrongdoing.

Many believed he shared the blame for the crises that beset SOEs, citing this as part of his leadership failures.

Gordhan was not elected into the last ANC national executive committee in December 2022 but that did not diminish his influence in the party and the state.

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