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Johannesburg - The chances of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan keeping his job after prosecutors charged him with fraud brightened on Wednesday after he won the backing of Cabinet and President Jacob Zuma appointed him to a task force on education.
“Cabinet has affirmed its support for Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan,” Jeff Radebe, a minister in the presidency, told reporters following a cabinet meeting. He’s “innocent until otherwise proven by a court of law.”
Speculation has been rife that Gordhan was on the verge of being fired after the Nationla Prosecuting Authority announced on October 11 that he would be charged for fraudulently approving the early retirement of SA Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Ivan Pillay and then rehiring him on a contract basis.
Gordhan, who has clashed with Zuma over the management of state-owned enterprises and Sars, said the case is a political stitch-up and he has nothing to answer for.
Gordhan, 67, has been a key driver of a campaign to maintain South Africa’s investment-grade credit rating, which is up for review over the next two months.
He’s received the backing of senior officials, including Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa who on Sunday said the finance minister had his moral and political support.
Radebe also announced that Zuma reversed his decision to omit Gordhan from a team that’s investigating demands by university students for fees to be scrapped.
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