Jabu Mabuza felt "numb" when he heard that the National Prosecuting Authority had issued a summons for Pravin Gordhan to appear in court on a charge of fraud soon after his return from the all-important South Africa Tomorrow investor conference in New York. The 58-year-old Telkom chairman, who has just been appointed president of Business Leadership South Africa on top of his role as president of Business Unity South Africa, has led a desperate government-business-labour initiative to avert a credit downgrade. One of the chief concerns expressed in New York was over Gordhan's future as finance minister, he says. He sat shoulder to shoulder with the finance minister, assuring ratings agencies and 200 of the largest US investors that South Africa's economy was in safe hands and Gordhan was going nowhere. So did he feel betrayed? "I felt very numb, very frustrated, very disappointed and very concerned." He says it has undermined everything he and his team, which includes Treasury offic...
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