NEWS ANALYSIS
The NPA-Gordhan relief rally is probably transient
The damage is done, and the dropping of charges against Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan is a Pyrrhic victory for SA, writes George Hay
London — SA has won a Pyrrhic victory. Shaun Abrahams, head of the National Prosecuting Authority, said on Monday he would drop fraud charges against Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, despite announcing them only 20 days earlier. The well-regarded Gordhan can now refocus on supporting the stuttering economy. But the upshot for SA is not uniformly positive. The charges against Gordhan — that he had signed off an overly generous retirement package to a colleague while running the South African Revenue Service (SARS) a decade ago — always seemed flimsy. The Johannesburg business community — and many others — viewed them as an attempt by those close to President Jacob Zuma to discredit a minister focused on vital reforms such as shaking up loss-making state-owned enterprises.
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