ANC’s tolerance of state capture figures upset Pravin Gordhan, says Mac Maharaj

Pravin Gordhan was frustrated by the ANC’s tolerance of many state capture figures who remain in leadership positions in the party, in cabinet and in parliament, his lifetime friend and comrade Mac Maharaj said on Thursday. 

Maharaj, who is also a struggle stalwart, was speaking at Gordhan’s funeral where he eulogised the late minister as an organiser who channelled people’s energy to bring about change and later faced hostility from his own comrades when he stood up against corruption. 

“Some in the ANC hated him with a passion because, until his last breath, PG would not bend; he became a target of racist rants because he happens to be an Indian South African. 

“We hope those who succumb to this within the ANC will find a way to look within and rid themselves of these practices; this is an essential part of the renewal of the ANC,” Maharaj said. 

Despite his disappointment with the ANC and misgivings about the party’s future, Gordhan still supported and campaigned for the party. But he was deeply concerned about the networks of patronage and corruption embedded in parastatals, Maharaj added.

He said he would not give credence to the “vile statement of tin hats who think that adorning themselves in red makes them revolutionaries” whose preoccupation and efforts were opportunistic. Maharaj took some time to explain his version of the tension between the EFF and Gordhan that persisted beyond the former’s death — he was referring to an EFF press statement released on Gordhan’s death that characterised his legacy as one of failure, exploitation and corruption.

“Their pathological hatred throws out of the window the tenets of ubuntu because PG was a core of the collective that stopped the capture of the Limpopo provincial administration by companies such as On Point Engineering. PG fought against corruption and illegality; he not only closed the taps, he also pursued tax liabilities against the individuals involved,” he explained. 

Gordhan’s death had inspired fresh calls for a renewed ANC. NEC member Sibongile Besani said that as the ANC ventured into a new era, Gordhan and his generation should be honoured and immortalised through a true renewal of the party.

“Let us rebuild the ANC through activists who have clarity of what it means to serve, activists who are built and produced through the struggles of the people. Let us rebuild an ANC that will combat this pervasive tendency of acquiring positions at all costs, that manipulates organisational processes, a tendency that manipulates the youth through money for support, that fails to empower young people,” he said. 

Besani said an ANC that truly honoured Gordhan and his generation would have leaders who immersed themselves in the service of others.

“Let us renew and rebuild an ANC that has integrity to inspire to take this country forward, an exemplary ANC whose prestige is undoubted. In this regard we cannot be wanting in the issue of ethical leadership,” he said.

Another lifetime comrade of Gordhan, Willies Mchunu, told the Gordhan family to find solace in the fact that he died with his good name and integrity intact, and that his good image would not be destroyed. 

“The ANC has a duty to be in the forefront of the defence of the image of PG; you should understand the attacks against him are attacks on the direction of the ANC because in government, he led in line with the policies of the ANC,” Mchunu told the family. 

He added that Gordhan received more love than hate because he represented the aspirations of the country.

“No amount of mudslinging and vilification will undo his good work,” said Mchunu. 

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