Much has been said since Pravin Gordhan was fired as Minister of Finance last week.

There have been speeches upon speeches upon speeches, presented both in public and behind closed doors.

[You can see Gordhan himself speaking at yesterday’s Cape Town memorial for Ahmed Kathrada HERE].

Some people have even changed their tune and have had the audacity to do it publicly, too. You know, like the exact moment Gwede Mantashe showed just how gutless the ANC Top Six really are (HERE).

The first to speak out on why Gordhan was possibly fired was our favourite whistle blower, Vytjie Mentor. She blamed Gordhan’s comments on the nuclear deal while in London for his sacking – read it HERE if you missed it.

However, at that awful ANC media briefing on Wednesday, secretary general Gwede Mantashe suggested that “a newspaper article referring to “President Gordhan” had contributed to tensions between Zuma and Gordhan,” reports Times Live.

Mantashe said the article was published around the time of the World Economic Forum in Davos‚ Switzerland‚ which took place in January this year.

“Just to highlight this tension … I don’t know if you remember … when a South African delegation went to the World Economic Forum‚ there was a big article here‚ which was talking about Pravin and said we can as well call him President Gordhan‚” Mantashe said.

“If you remember that article‚ you will appreciate the tensions between a minister and a president.”

Published in the Business Times section of the Sunday Times, the headline read:

It’s ‘President Gordhan’ at Davos.

It quoted political analyst Aubrey Matshiqi‚ who said “Gordhan had stepped into the leadership gap left by the president,” explains Times Live.

The Sunday Times isn’t the only newspaper to have put Gordhan in that position:

The Mail & Guardian in November asked the question: “Pravin for president?” That article happened to coincide with Zuma confiding in the ANC’s top leadership that his relationship with Gordhan was on the rocks‚ according to ANC deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte.

Did Zuma’s ego take such a bruising from headlines like the one in the Sunday Times that he couldn’t stomach it any longer?

You wouldn’t put it past him.

Here’s what Mantashe said about why Gordhan was actually sacked:

On Wednesday Mantashe said there had been an “irretrievable breakdown” in Zuma and Gordhan’s relationship‚ which had been the main reason for his axing.

He downplayed earlier references to an intelligence report‚ which had accused Gordhan of plotting against the government.

“It makes life difficult for the minister and it makes life difficult for the president. That we appreciated. So‚ I don’t want to come here and pretend as if we heard on Monday about the president who is unhappy because there’s an intelligence report‚” Mantashe told journalists.

“That’s why we can boldly say‚ if the president gave an explanation of the irretrievable breakdown of the relationship – that would have made more sense. The intelligence report complicated the matter. It is us who say so.”

He said the deterioration in the relationship was akin to a divorce.

“The only people who can give you details of that relationship are people in that relationship.”

I totally call bullshit, but that’s just me (and most of the country).

[source:timeslive]