Save SA says Zuma’s cancelling of Gordhan’s trip is ‘economic sabotage’

The Save South Africa campaign has come out strongly against President Jacob Zuma’s extraordinary decision on Monday to recall Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan from an international investor roadshow in London, saying the move constitutes a form of “economic sabotage”.

A statement on Monday released by the coalition of civil society organisations said it believed Zuma was acting with “unbridled recklessness” when he cancelled National Treasury’s scheduled roadshow to meet business leaders and rating agencies in the United Kingdom and United States.

Save SA has called on Parliament to summon Zuma to Cape Town to explain and account for his actions.

“It is a sign of extremely weak leadership and completely unsettles perceptions of South Africa’s stability – as can be seen in the way the rand has tumbled on foreign exchange markets.

“A rapidly depreciating rand has a massive impact on the South African economy and its ability to effect economic transformation, whether radical or not. The ultimate victims will be the poor, and Zuma must be held accountable for his style of politics,” Save SA said.

The coalition said should Zuma decide to fire Gordhan from his Cabinet, as widely speculated, it would be “clear that what we are really seeing is the final, desperate push in the state capture project”.

“President Jacob Zuma may be in the mood for power politics, but he can rest assured that South Africans will not take this lying down. This increasingly desperate president must be stopped in his tracks, and we call on all sectors of society to unite in opposition to his dangerous strategy that is aimed at furthering the state capture project.”

Save SA also said Zuma and his associates could no longer wait to loot the state “through the front door” of Treasury.

“Clearly, Zuma and his cohorts can no longer wait to get their hands on the public purse. Access to the state kitty, through the front door of National Treasury, is more important to them than the national interest. They want to loot, and loot with increased haste, while they still can.”

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