BLF’s Mngxitama opens ‘corruption case’ against Gordhan
Mngxitama said to be laying charges against Gordhan in Hillbrow. Picture: Twitter
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Black First Land First (BLF) announced on Wednesday that it had brought a case of corruption against Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan. The case was submitted by sworn statement at the Hillbrow Police Station, according to information shared by BLF leader Andile Mngxitama on Twitter.
Gordhan’s alleged crime, according to the BLF, is that he was aware of criminal activity and did not report it to the appropriate authority, which would thus be an alleged contravention of section 34 of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, 2004 (Act No. 12 of 2004) “regarding his failure to report criminal activity that was reported to him by Deputy Finance Minister, Mcebisi Jonas, as indicated in the ‘State of Capture’ report of the Public Protector.”
The BLF alleges that Gordhan, in his capacity as finance minister, was told by his deputy, Mcebisi Jonas, that the Guptas had offered to make him the finance minister as well as give him millions of rands as further incentive to favour them as the future head of Treasury.
Jonas claims he refused the offer. After Gordhan was reappointed as finance minister following the sacking of Nhlanhla Nene, Jonas told the former public protector, Thuli Madonsela, that he had shared these details with Gordhan.
The section of the State of Capture report that outlines this information says the following:
“I [Madonsela] further interviewed the Minister of Finance, Mr Pravin Gordhan on 12 September 2016 to establish if Mr Jonas had discussed the alleged Cabinet post offer with him. Mr Gordhan stated the following:
a) Mr Jonas informed him prior to the removal of former Minister of Finance Mr Nene that he had something bothering him but never went into details;
b) After his re-appointment which followed the removal of Mr Nene, Mr Jonas visited his office and shared the details of his visit to the Gupta family residence with him”
Now the BLF alleges that Gordhan had not taken appropriate action in response: “The fact that the alleged offence was reported to Pravin Gordhan, who did not report it to the appropriate authority, is in itself an offence committed by him. In terms of section 34 of the said Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, any person holding a position of authority and ‘who knows of or ought reasonably to have known or suspected that any other person has committed an offence’ is obliged to ‘report such knowledge or suspicion to any police official’.
Ironically, by charging Gordhan with this offence, the BLF again also raises the matter of whether President Jacob Zuma knew about the same allegedly illegal encounter with his friends the Guptas and if he also chose not to report it. According to former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor, Zuma was indeed informed about the Guptas’ alleged shopping around for ministerial appointments.
Mngxitama is a fervent Zuma supporter. He has called for Gordhan to be replaced with yet-to-be-sworn-in-MP Brian Molefe.
Not the only case either
Zuma was accused in November last year of also allegedly “confessing” to his guilt in a similar case in which EFF national chairperson advocate Dali Mpofu claimed that the president had inadvertently confessed to breaking the law while giving a televised speech.
He was referring to the fact that in Zuma’s speech at the time, the president had said that the wealthy were “buying ANC comrades as if they were buying jackets”.
“They are walking around with R1 million cash for bribes,” he told ANC cadres in KwaZulu-Natal.
Zuma also said that he had knowledge of who was stealing from the public purse – but instead of doing anything about it, he told the crowd that he was “just watching them. I know them.”
He was speaking mainly in isiZulu at an ANC cadres’ forum in Pietermaritzburg, where he attempted to deflect from accusations of his own alleged theft and corruption by saying that “they have investigated me all over but they are finding nothing because I’m not doing anything”.
He failed to mention that he had spent the past decade avoiding 783 charges of corruption.
If Zuma indeed had the knowledge of corruption he was professing to have, he was obligated to report it.
Madonsela had also raised the concern – which still needs to be investigated by a recommended judicial commission of inquiry – that Zuma was made aware of his friends the Guptas’ alleged attempts to bribe members of his Cabinet.
According to the laws governing all public officials, Zuma was meant to report the matter and have it investigated the moment he became aware of it. However, it appears he simply ignored it. He will need to prove that ANC MP Mentor was lying when she claimed she told him that the Guptas had allegedly tried to influence Cabinet appointments.
When Madonsela tried to ask the president questions about the matter, he refused to answer and later attempted to interdict her report by claiming she hadn’t given him enough of a chance to state his side. She released a full recording of her meeting with him to demonstrate that this was not true and the president had been obstructive.
