Zille: ANCYL wants Pravin out so they can get busy looting

Western Cape Premier and former leader of the DA Helen Zille posted a picture of a headline from the Weekend Argus on Saturday morning to comment on the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) statement that Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan needs to be “redeployed”.

The league believes the minister is a stumbling block against “radical economic transformation”, but Zille reckons the ANCYL and those they are aligned with are actually simply more keen to get their hands on the billions in Treasury’s coffers so that they can “loot” them.

It’s widely speculated that the next finance minister will be the controversial former CEO of parastatals Eskom and Transnet, Brian Molefe. Although he won praise at Eskom for overseeing a period in which load shedding came to an end, he was linked to several suspect deals at both parastatals, and he appears very uncomfortable about discussing his close relationship with his friends the Guptas, who won a highly favourable coal deal at Eskom under his watch.

Gordhan became finance minister again in December 2015 after President Jacob Zuma’s disastrous decision to axe Nhlanhla Nene and install a little-known backbencher, Des van Rooyen, into the job. The rand tumbled in response, after panic in the markets. During Gordhan’s tenure, stability has been restored and the rand returned to the 13 to the dollar mark this week for the first time.

On Friday, in a long statement that touched on OR Tambo, tropical storm Dineo, the life Esedimeni tragedy and the Freedom Charter, which “ought to be respected and honoured” especially in relation to the “mineral wealth of the country”, the ANCYL most notably called for Gordhan to lose his job as a the head of Treasury.

The league said: “There must be restructuring of treasury administration and management starting with the re-deployment of comrade Pravin Gordhan.”

They gave no direct reasons for their antagonism towards the minister, who is understood to be at odds with President Jacob Zuma and those loyal to the president, including the league.

ANC spin doctor Mzwanele Manyi did not take long to respond to Zille’s accusations. He argues that she has tacitly acknowledged that Treasury is indeed susceptible to looting. In his view, Treasury has already been subject to looting “for years”.