Letters show how Nazeem Howa beseeched Pravin Gordhan to lobby banks
An exchange of letters that spanned four months shows the lengths to which Oakbay Investments went to persuade Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan to lobby "intransigent" banks on their behalf. These letters are contained in an application before the High Court in Pretoria‚ by Gordhan‚ where he is seeking an order declaring that he is not by law empowered or obliged to intervene in the relationship between Oakbay companies and the banks. Oakbay Investments CEO Nazeem Howa penned several letters to Gordhan between April and September‚ imploring‚ offering apologies and highlighting the finance minister’s "strong pedigree as a liberation fighter". Gordhan appeared‚ by August‚ after a meeting and ongoing correspondence to have had enough. "It is concerning that Oakbay still does not accept the minister of finance‚ in law‚ is unable to interfere with the relations between registered banks and their clients‚" he wrote to Howa. In the first letter written by Howa on April 8‚ he informed the mi...
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