he chairperson of the African National Congress (ANC)’s Economic Transformation Commission Enoch Godongwana, says he’s worried about the impact the fight between the Hawks and Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan is having on the economy, and that the Hawks could have managed the situation differently.
The markets don’t seem to like this little debacle one bit. The rand took a hard knock and is now trading at just under the R16 to the dollar after the Hawks issued its statement yesterday. Officials from the Moody’s ratings agency are landing in South Africa today as the Hawks say they’re preparing to act against the finance minister, saying he’s refused to answer questions about a South African Revenue Service (Sars) unit he helped to create.
But Gordhan says he’s responded to all of the letters they’ve sent to him. Godongwana says the Hawks could have approached this issue differently. “There is no doubt, even the timing of the issuance in terms of the 27 questions, all of that combined playing in the public space is not helpful.” He also says this is clearly causing jitters in the economy and that is making him worried.
Comment by Cliff Central: In another country, as allegations of state capture and corruption by one influential family continue to mount, it would seem apt that its Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) moved swiftly to investigate such serious claims and direct threats to a sovereign democratic state.
In South Africa however, the Hawks, as the DPCI is known, have decided that Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan is a more worthy public target. It appears that we have lost all pretence and fallen down the rabbit hole.