This morning brought with it the news that Pravin Gordhan, our already beleaguered Finance Minister, would be formally charged by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), otherwise known as Zuma’s henchmen.

Whilst we’ve heard plenty about the South African Revenue Service’s (SARS) ‘rogue unit’, the NPA are not yet done with their investigations on that front.

According to NPA head Shaun Abrahams charges will still be laid against Gordhan for his role to play in the formation of the ‘rogue unit’, saying that he didn’t have the mandate to do so.

What’s more pressing, and what will see Gordhan appear in court on November 2, is the charges of fraud. Here’s BusinessTech:

Gordhan is facing action from the NPA on charges relating to former deputy commissioner, Ivan Pillay’s early retirement.

The NPA said that Pillay had sent a memo to former commissioner Oupa Magashula, indicating that he wished to take early retirement. Magashula then sent the request to Gordhan for approval of Pillay’s retirement – with full benefits, which was not applicable in Pillay’s case.

According to Abrahams [above], Magashula was advised that the employee initiated severance package was not applicable to Pillay, but it was approved nevertheless. This improper early retirement process cost SARS R1.1 million, Abrahams said.

As soon as Pillay’s retirement was implemented, he entered into a 5 year contract with SARS, which was extended by Gordhan.

In light of this, Gordhan, along  with Pillay and Magashula now face the following charges:

1. Gordhan, Magashula and Pillay – Fraud in respect of the R1.1 million pension payment;
2. Magashula – contravention of the Finance Management Act;
3. Magashula and Pillay – Fraud relating to the employment contract for 5 years;
4. Gordhan and Pillay – Fraud relating to the extension of the employment contract.

I suppose in an ideal world all of our political and ministerial actions would be examined so thoroughly, but it is the selective application of closer scrutiny that makes one think there might be other forces at work.

According to eNCA, Pravin was less than impressed with the timing of the announcement:

Gordhan questioned why this action was being taken 15 days before he was due to deliver the medium-term budget policy statement.

“If you remember last time it was just before and after the February budget. There’s something attractive about budgets – I’m not sure what it is.

“What is it about this country and some in this country, at a political level and in the law enforcement agencies, who choose these times to do these things?”

Gordhan lamented that he had just returned from trips abroad to reassure investors that South Africa’s economy was growing and to prevent ratings agencies from downgrading the country to junk status.

“This is a moment when South Africans should really ask themselves; who are the Hawks serving? Where do they get their political instructions from and for what purpose?”

Of course this isn’t the first time Gordhan has stuck up a middle finger at those hellbent on taking him down – it was just over a month ago that he put in a defiant performance at the Parliamentary Q&A session (HERE).

Another interesting aside – Jacob Zuma has finally put together a task team to deal with #FeesMustFall, but the Daily Vox is a little confused:

In a statement released by The Presidency on Tuesday, President Jacob Zuma announced the establishment of  a Ministerial Task Team to resolve the current impasse at institutions of higher learning.

Absent from the task team is Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, who is set to answer a summons to appear in court on November 2. It is Gordhan’s ministry that would of course be tasked with finding the funds to better fund higher education…

According to the statement, government reiterates its full commitment to promoting access to higher education for the children of the poor and the working class. Although without actual input from the finance ministry on the task team, it remains to be seen how well this commitment will translate.

So we’re going to look at ways to make education more affordable to the citizens of South Africa, but we’re excluding the finance ministry?

You know who was amongst those invited – the Minister of Police, the Minister of State Security and the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans.

Interesting priorities.

However this entire mess plays out – and we know that Pravin’s reluctance to play ball with SA’s top dogs will always keep them nipping at his heels – the real loser at the end of the day is the South African economy.

In other words, you and I.

And now, this:

[sources:businesstech&enca&dailyvox]