By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Department of Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan is a “threat to democracy and must be stopped”, Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane wrote in an email to one of her investigators on 8 November 2018.
Public Protector chief investigator Rodney Mataboge has been on the hot seat on Thursday morning.
The evidence leader advocate Nazreen Bawa SC referred him to the email which Mkhwebane sent to him during the Public Protector’s investigation into the so-called “rogue unit” at the SA Revenue Service.
The email read: “Pravin Gordhan like any other South African who is accused of corruption must face his day in court on the 8th of November to explain.”
Mkhwebane went on to list a number of things Gordhan had to respond to.
Bawa asked him to which court proceedings she referred in the email, but he did not know.
The final paragraph of the email read:”Pravin Gordhan is a threat to democracy and must be stopped before he causes more harm under the disguise of cleaning up.”
“Must be stopped in which way?” asked Bawa.
“I wouldn’t comment on that,” said Mataboge. “If an email like this came through, it is just for our noting from the PP, and not necessarily for us to respond.”
Gordhan was implicated in reports by Mkhwebane, but these have all been overturned by the courts. Two of these court cases are included in the ones the charges against Mkhwebane before the committee stems from.
The committee previously heard evidence that Mkhwebane accused Gordhan of giving instructions for her removal, and staff in her office also openly referred to him as “Jamnadas” – his middle name and a slur the EFF uses to refer to him.
Email evidence also revealed Mkhwebane’s attorney, Theo Seanego who is currently representing her at the inquiry, advocated for her lawyers to align their legal strategies in response to Gordhan’s challenges to her reports with the EFF.
Mkhwebane previously asked that the committee summon Gordhan as a witness, but the committee decided his testimony would not be relevant.
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