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Davis praised Gordhan as someone who stood in the way of state capture when most people kept quiet about it. (Photo: Leon Sadiki/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Judge Dennis Davis said on Monday it was outrageous that some politicians at the forefront of corruption had questioned the reputation of former minister and former South African Revenue Services (SARS) commissioner, Pravin Gordhan.
Davis was speaking at a memorial service for Gordhan held by SARS in Pretoria.
Davis said it was “outrageous” that Gordhan had been treated so badly by “populist politicians, people who in fact are very much in the forefront of corruption and who have the absolute gall to call into question the reputation of someone who I certainly consider to be a constitutional citizen”.
Following his death, the Economic Freedom Fighters said Gordhan’s legacy was one of failure, exploitation and corruption, adding that the party “will not shed a tear for the likes of Pravin Gordhan”.
“Now he dies with his crimes and goes unpunished,” the party said.
The EFF has also been at the forefront of accusing Gordhan of running the so-called rogue unit at SARS to target politicians like EFF leader Julius Malema.
The party has also accused the former minister of presiding over the “most disastrous” period when he was minister of public enterprises.
In an investigation later dismissed in the constitutional court, former public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane accused Gordhan of establishing an unlawful intelligence unit at the SARS in 2007, when he was the tax agency’s commissioner.
In 2018, Mkhwebane received a complaint from Floyd Shivambu, then EFF deputy president, who claimed Gordhan “willingly established an intelligence unit against the intelligence laws of South Africa”.
Shivambu based this claim on a 2014 investigative report compiled by a panel chaired by advocate Muzi Sikhakhane.
The EFF leader has close links with alleged cigarette smuggler Adriano Mazotti, who has funded the party over the years and who is among those who had been targeted by SARS in its attempts to crack down on the illegal tobacco industry.
SARS receives no revenue from smuggled tobacco and cigarettes.
Davis praised Gordhan as someone who stood in the way of state capture when most people kept quiet about it.
“[Gordhan] was effectively the leader of the opposition in South Africa and we should never forget that role because that is a role which you have to play if you are to preserve democracy.”
Former finance minister Trevor Manuel said the SARS “rogue unit” allegations had been “the beginning of the onslaught against Gordhan”.
Manuel said the unit had been established to understand how abalone – which was not eaten by locals – was being fished out on the south coast of the Western Cape and smuggled out of the country.
“As we understood how the abalone got out, we understood how our drugs got in, how counterfeit goods got in and we needed to get better at that. Ivan [Pillay] and [Johann] van Loggerenberg and people then said what we need is to deal with this problem because it pointed to other things,” he said
Manuel said the need had been identified to triangulate information about money laundering, counterfeiting and other organised criminal activity.
“If we understand what happens to the money, who has bought what car with what resource, who purchased property with what resources, what are the bank accounts…If you have that kind of information, then you can deal with a tax system that is perceived to be fair,” Manuel said. “That quality of leadership is something that we need to take very seriously.”
Manuel said the unit’s operations brought it into direct conflict with criminal networks, which had responded using fake intelligence.
“And so the idea of a rogue intelligence unit was born, but what they described as a rogue intelligence unit was merely SARS extending its work and saying, if we want people to pay tax, there must be a sense of fairness about taxation,” he said.
“That in many ways, was the beginning of the onslaught against Pravin, the beginning of the endeavour to dismantle the revenue service, the beginning of the breaking of friendships.”
Former director general of treasury Ismail Momoniat said SARS “meant a lot” to Gordhan, which was why it was so painful to see how, despite more than a decade of building the revenue collection service, it was almost destroyed very quickly when the “wrong appointment” was made.
Momoniat also rubbished the existence of the rogue unit, saying it was an “attack” on SARS.
