Johannesburg – New Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba says he won’t interfere with Treasury’s on-going court battles.
Gigaba was speaking at a briefing in Pretoria on Saturday. This follows his appointment as finance minister, replacing Pravin Gordhan in what has been described as President Jacob Zuma’s biggest Cabinet reshuffle since assuming office in 2009.
READ: Zuma’s night of the long knives
The briefing was attended by Gigaba’s deputy, Sfiso Buthelezi, who replaced Mcebisi Jonas and Director-General Lungisa Fuzile. Gigaba highlighted the way forward for Treasury, saying that he was honoured to be appointed as finance minister and that he was equally shocked to find out that he was placed on the “hot seat”.
Responding to a question about whether he would withdraw his predecessor’s court application for a declaratory order, Gigaba said he would not withdraw the application.
“I have had one day on the job. I have not had all the briefing I need to be able to make fully informed opinions on a whole range of issues,” he said.
“I think the issues that are before courts, will remain before courts until they resolved at that level. I don’t think it’s my responsibility right now to take any decision either to withdraw cases or plead differently in cases that have been lodged against us,” he explained.
READ: High Court reserves judgment in Gupta-Gordhan bank case
Gordhan had sought legal protection from intervening in the bank closure of the Gupta's bank accounts. The case was heard over two days at the North Gauteng High Court last week. Judgement had been reserved.
One of the cases lodged against Treasury include the unsuccessful urgent application submitted by Gupta-linked Vardospan and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) deputy governor Kuben Naidoo. Vardospan wanted Treasury and the SARB to grant them permission to acquire a controlling stake in Habib Bank by March 31.
The urgency of the application, which was submitted on Monday, March 27 was to comply with conditions of an agreement with Pitcairns Finance.
However Judge Ronel Tolmay threw out the application, saying that there was still room for Vardospan to negotiate an extension with Pitcairns. She concluded that the urgency was “self-created”.
ALSO READ: Gupta-linked Vardospan loses 11th-hour court bid to buy Habib Bank
On this particular case, Gigaba said that given that the application was dismissed, there was no point for him to take a decision on the matter. “The court has already expressed opinion on that matter.”
Previously, Gordhan said that Treasury's position on the Vardospan case was to be determined by his successor. “The banking regulator has reached a certain point in decision-making. It’s up to my successor to apply his mind on the issue,” he said.
Following the ruling on Friday, Hamza Farooqui, who heads Vardospan, told journalists that regardless of who the finance minister is, he would continue his fight to start a bank. “The merits are important – I am very confident that I am able to build a banking institution in South Africa and I am confident in some point in time, I will have the opportunity.”
Read Fin24's top stories trending on Twitter: Fin24’s top stories