We are not prosecuting Gordhan - NPA

23 May 2016

Pretoria - The National Prosecuting Authority is not driving any prosecution against Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, its chief prosecutor said on Monday.

"There are no charges of espionage being investigated against Minister Gordhan," national director of public prosecutions Shaun Abrahams told reporters in Pretoria.

Last weekend's reports that Gordhan faced imminent arrest negatively affected the economy, Abrahams said.

Also comments by "certain" media, politicians, and analysts on these reports did not help, he said.

Neither Abrahams nor the institution required the political go-ahead to decide whether to prosecute or not, he added.

"The NPA is not involved nor is it driving any prosecution in this matter [the Gordhan matter]... the NPA is not filthy and corrupt as some politicians would want you to believe," he said.

"The NPA is not involved in any unrestrained attack on any person."

This article first appeared on News24, see here.