Cabinet affirms support for Finance Minister

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Pretoria - Cabinet has affirmed its support for Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in light of the legal processes unfolding around him.

“Cabinet has affirmed its support for Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, who under Section 35 of the Constitution, is innocent until proven otherwise by a court of law,” Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Jeff Radebe said on Thursday.

The National Prosecuting Agency (NPA) announced last week that the Minister has been issued with a formal summons to appear in court on 2 November 2016 over fraud charges.

NPA Head Shaun Abrahams said Minister Gordhan‚ former South African Revenue Service (SARS) Commissioner Oupa Magashule and former Deputy Commissioner Ivan Pillay would be charged with fraud amounting to more than R1.1 million. This relates to Pillay's early retirement pay-out.

Following its fortnightly meeting, Cabinet said it remains confident in the country’s criminal justice system and the fair and just judicial processes, “which have defined the democratic era”. These processes must be allowed to take their course.

President Jacob Zuma as well as Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa have previously expressed support for Minister Gordhan.

Minister Gordhan is due to table the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), which is also known as the mini budget, on 26 October in Parliament.

Public called to express views on MTBPS

Cabinet also encouraged South Africans to share their views on the economy as well as other issues they would like government to highlight in the MTBPS.

“Contributions can be sent through Facebook: National Treasury South Africa, Twitter @TreasuryRSA, oral representations and the National Treasury website,” said Minister Radebe. - SAnews.gov.za