LETTER: Pravin Gordhan and ANC have failed

Public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan’s unconvincing display in parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) on the May 17, where he played the man and not the issue, does not reflect well on him.

Former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter outplayed him with the facts — the first businessman without ties to the ANC to really get exposed to how state capture operates, and it’s now documented.

Gordhan’s narrative at Scopa was that De Ruyter should have kept his head down and kept all the talk about corruption behind closed doors (like he does).

De Ruyter is the true hero here. He told it as it is. Business SA also stood up for the good and supported him with the money to investigate this.

Gordhan wasted R50bn on SAA, enough to build a 4,500KW solar power station, because his pride would not let it fail, yet around him were untainted, hardworking airlines that make a profit on true business principles and one that, when it failed, liquidated at no cost to the taxpayer.

Now he has now surpassed this, by costing the country R1,2-trillion in load-shedding, because he is not prepared to change the narrative of what every non-ANC commentator, business leader and De Ruyter has spelt out. The government can’t run Eskom.

Gordhan keeps pushing his credentials of honesty and ethical standing. This is a given in most democratic societies. It’s the ideological change that is required based on the facts on the ground that he needs to make and persuade his colleagues to take.

He and his government have failed to make it work. Now they should step back and give others a chance.

He should put country, its people and economic future over the ANC and its outdated ideology.

Rob Tiffin
Cape Town