Eulogy by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Special Official Funeral of Mr Pravin Gordhan, Inkosi Albert Luthuli Convention Centre, Ethekwini

19 September 2024

Programme Director, 
My dear sister, Vanitha, 
Dearest Anisha and Priyesha and the extended Gordhan family,
Acting Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, Ms Thembeni KaMadlopha-Mthethwa,
Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Former Chief Justice Raymond Zondo,
Leadership of the South African National Defence Force and the South African Police Service,
Leadership of the African National Congress,
Leadership of the South African Communist Party, the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the broader democratic movement,
Religious and community leaders,
Comrades and friends, 

The poet Rabindranath Tagore said: 

‘We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility.’ 

Today we bid farewell to a humble servant of the people, Pravin Jamnadas Gordhan. 

For all his achievements, despite his immense contribution to this country, Pravin was at all times a humble human being and activist. 

It was his humility as a person and as a leader that made him great.

It was his unwavering belief that a political activist must serve no other cause than the cause of freedom that made PG exceptional. 

It is that which makes great all true servant leaders. 

Leaders who accept the responsibility to lead with humility, commitment and courage. They are leaders who also submit themselves to being led. 

These are leaders who speak up when they must, but who also listen to the voices of our people attentively. 

These are Leaders who are magnanimous in victory and gracious in defeat. 

Such leaders are people who stand up for what is right even at great personal cost to themselves. 

Pravin Gordhan joined the struggle at a young age.

He became active in the Natal Indian Congress and the South African Communist Party.

The origins of his activism, in student and civic politics, was to define his political perspective and attitude.

Even as a Member of Parliament, even as a Minister, at his essence PG remained a grassroots activist.

He was one of those rare people who knew the cost of struggle.

His activism earned him arrests, beatings and detention. 

He knew the perils of underground work. 

As an operative of Operation Vula, he was interrogated, tortured and thrown into solitary confinement.

Yet, whenever called upon, he stepped forward to serve.

Pravin Gordhan is remembered as a key figure in the formation of the United Democratic Front.

He is remembered as a leader in the South African Communist Party and the African National Congress, his political home. 

Pravin became known as a seasoned negotiator and astute tactician. 

He played an important role in our country’s peaceful transition to democracy.

He was one of the architects of our democratic constitution. 

As a pharmacist, as a dedicated revolutionary, he may not have seemed the best choice to lead the South African Revenue Service.

Yet, his intelligence, his enterprise and his diligence made him the perfect person to build one of the most important and effective institutions of our young democracy. 

It was these attributes that made him the right person to be appointed Minister of Finance at a time of great difficulty for the South African and the global economy.

In every task that he was given, in every portfolio he occupied, he was methodical and industrious.

He understood the value of the work he was given.

He understood that efficient revenue collection was essential for the fundamental transformation of our society.

He understood that careful management of public finances was vital for the education of our children and the health of our population.

He knew that if the lives of the poor were ever to be improved, municipalities needed to work – and to work well.

He knew that if unemployed South Africans were to find work, the country’s trains needed to run and its ports needed to function.

He knew that its power stations needed to produce enough electricity to drive a thriving economy.

Always an activist, he did the work that needed to be done.

And as an activist, he stood firm on principle.

During one of the most painful chapters in our democratic history, as the state was being looted by the powerful and connected, he chose to resist.

Using all means at his disposal, he worked to thwart the capture of the state.

Drawing on his substantial moral stature, he refused to be silenced.

He was prepared to confront those who had once been his comrades, whom he had once looked up to as his leaders, but who had abandoned the cause of the people.

As many others looked away, his revolutionary consciousness demanded no less of him than that he speak out.

For him, it was no different to when he joined the struggle against apartheid.

It was a choice between what was right and what was wrong.

It was a choice between standing with the people or standing against the people.

There was never any doubt where Pravin Gordhan would stand.

What gave him strength and encouragement was that he was not alone.

Among his comrades, among activists, among civic leaders, among public servants, among broader society, was a growing movement against state capture.

In ways that history has yet to fully record, he played a pivotal role in giving form and effect to that movement.

This earned him the ire of the enablers of state capture.

It earned him the wrath of those more interested in political expediency than in undoing the great damage that state capture had done. 

Pravin endured vicious personal attacks. 

They were dishonest, condescending and patronising. 

Many were racist, directed at one of the country’s foremost champions of non-racialism

These attacks did nothing to diminish Pravin’s standing among South Africans.

Instead, they exposed the moral bankruptcy of those who chose to target him and his family.

It was shameful then, and it remains shameful now. 

Let it never be that in the robust festival of ideas and vibrant public space that is a hallmark of our democratic order, we stoop to slander and invective. 

Let it never be that in trying to portray ourselves as the liberators that we come to sound like the oppressor. 

It takes a person of true mettle to withstand such an onslaught. 

Pravin Gordhan was such a person. 

I had the privilege of working alongside him for many years – during the struggle against apartheid, at Codesa and in the Constitutional Assembly, in the ANC and in government. 

I will remember him fondly for his collaborative spirit.

I will remember him for his tact, especially when we disagreed. 

I will remember him standing firm on principle.

I will miss his incisive contributions in Cabinet and other meetings.

I will miss our many discussions over many hours, and the telephone conversations late into the night. 

I valued his frankness and forthrightness.

I respected his opinions. And I appreciate that he always afforded me the same courtesy. 

He was my comrade and my colleague, but he was also a friend. 

There are a great many lessons we can draw from his life and from his political activism. 

The most fitting tribute we can pay to him is to reflect on our own actions. 

To consider what we can and should each do to serve our country. 

To reflect on what it means to be an activist. 

To consider if we are prepared to weather the great storms that so often confront acts of courage and integrity.

These are the issues upon which we must indeed all reflect as we bid farewell to this great son of the soil. 

It is in times of difficulty that moral courage is valued most.

It is at times of renewal and rebuilding that activism is most needed

As we strive to rebuild our country, as the Government of National Unity, we will rely on men and women of integrity, honour and courage to support us, to hold us to account, and to help shepherd in a new era for South Africa and its people. 

Pravin Gordhan’s spear has fallen. Let us together pick it up. 

To the Gordhan family, the nation shares in your sorrow at the loss of a husband, a father and a brother. 

It is not lost on any of us that his dedication to our country demanded great personal sacrifice from you. 

To the friends and compatriots of our departed comrade, be comforted in the knowledge that his legacy continues to guide our every effort to build a free, just and equal South Africa. 

I leave you with these words, once more from Rabindranath Tagore. 

“Give me the strength lightly to bear my joys and sorrows.
Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service.
Give me the strength never to disown the poor or bend my knees before insolent might.
Give me the strength to raise my mind high above daily trifles.
And give me the strength to surrender my strength to thy will with love.” 

Comrade Pravin, you were all of these things. 

Yours was a life fruitful in service. 

You bore your sorrows with strength. 

You stood for the poor and never disowned them. 

You would not bend your knee before injustice. 

You would not bend your knee before those who were stealing from the poor.

Where many tried to bring you low with their insults, your feet remained firmly on the high ground. 

And now you have surrendered your strength to the will of the Creator. 

You were a much admired, much respected and much loved comrade, colleague, leader and friend. 

Hamba kahle, Mkhonto. 

Om Shanti, Om Shanti, Om Shanti. 

Rest in peace, good and faithful servant of the people. 

I thank you.

Issued by The Presidency, 19 September 2024