Former public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan dies

Former public enterprises minister and the founding commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) Pravin Gordhan has died.

Gordhan’s family confirmed in a statement that he passed away peacefully in hospital surrounded by his family, closest friends and his lifelong Comrades in the liberation struggle in the early hours of Friday morning.

He was 75 years old.

“It is with profound sadness that the Gordhan family announces the passing of former Minister Pravin Gordhan,” his family said.

Gordhan was admitted to the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre in Johannesburg on Tuesday after a recent cancer diagnosis.

The former minister is survived by his wife Vanitha, and his daughters, Anisha and Priyesha.

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Funeral

The Gordhan family has requested that their privacy be respected during this difficult time of grief.

“Funeral arrangements and the details of a media briefing by the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, on behalf of the Gordhan family, will be announced in due course.”

Biography

A trained pharmacist, Gordhan was a struggle veteran whose career as a politician and activist spanned more than five decades.

He occupied strategic positions in government after South Africa’s transition to democracy in 1994 before joining the South African Revenue Services (Sars) in 1998.

In May 2009, former president Jacob Zuma appointed Gordhan as minister of finance, succeeding Trevor Manuel. He served in that position from 2009 until 2014.

Zuma then appointed Nhlanhla Nene as finance minister but than soon fired him too, to make way for the minister Des van Rooyen in 2017.

Zuma’s decision was an utter disaster that sent the economy into a tailspin.

After a brief disastrous appointment of van Rooyen, Zuma reluctantly reappointed Gordhan in 2015.

During this period, the former minister also became a leader of the political campaign that sought to elect than-deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa as African National Congress (ANC) leader.

Gordhan’s stance on state capture, Zuma and rampant corruption regularly made him the target of not only internal ANC opponents, but opposition parties such as the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

Gordhan understood that participation in government was not merely a technical or technocratic role. Rather, it was to advance the high public duty that the Constitution bestows on all citizen of the country to uplift the poor, eliminate inequalities, fight racism, greed and corruption.

Portfolio

His last portfolio in the South African Cabinet was Minister of Public Enterprises, from 2018 to 2024, after serving two terms as Minister of Finance, from 2009 to 2014 and again from 2015 to 2017.

Gordhan also served as Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs from 2014 to 2015. In a distinguished career – from March 1999 to 2009 – he was the Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and transformed SARS into a world-class tax and customs administration.

Activism

Gordhan was a committed political activist since his teenage years. He elected to retire from active politics after this year’s general election to spend time with his family.

Throughout Gordhan’s career as a political activist – including the multiparty negotiations at CODESA from 1991, as a Member of Parliament from 1994, and later as a Member of the Executive from 2009 – he remained committed to building and strengthening public institutions to support constitutional democracy.

After his retirement, Gordhan fought a short, courageous battle with cancer. Bidding those closest to him farewell, he was emphatic: “I have no regrets, no regrets… We have made our contribution.”

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