It’s touching, and a little sad, how the media, opposition and civil society, in searching for a saviour in these parlous times, have by default latched on to Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan (and his deputy, Mcebisi Jonas) after his rehiring in 2015 and coming under attack from the pro-Zuma/Gupta faction. According to the popular narrative, Gordhan is SA’s reluctant hero. But let’s look at some of his faults. As a communist, he is part of the cabal within the ruling structure that exerts inordinate influence over SA’s economic policy and caused the country’s underperforming and stagnant growth through unworkable and outdated ideologies. It also seeks to redistribute wealth not by people working for it, but through the largesse of hard-pressed taxpayers and compliant corporate black economic empowerment donors. Under his watch from 2009, by indifference, neglect or commission, he allowed debt to grow from about 30% to more than 50% of GDP, and for corrupt and inept state enterprises ...
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