EFF vows to continue anti-Gordhan picket outside state capture inquiry venue
19 November 2018
The EFF staged a picket outside the Tiso Blackstar building where the commission of inquiry into state capture is being held, calling for the removal of Pravin Gordhan as minister of public enterprises.
"We will return here tomorrow in our numbers until Pravin Gordhan steps down as minister of public enterprises," the party's spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi told those gathered outside the building in Parktown, Johannesburg, on Monday.
The demonstration took place ahead of Gordhan's testimony at the commission chaired by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.
'Gordhan is the biggest enabler of state capture'
The political party is accusing the public enterprises minister of lying under oath in 2016 when he said he had never met with the controversial Gupta family in response to a parliamentary question.
"We have since asked him questions and it has been two weeks and he has not responded. He met with the Guptas in 2010 and now he claims to have forgotten. We have since reported him to the Public Protector," the party's deputy president Floyd Shivambu told demonstrators.
Inside the building, Gordhan told the commission that not all the events or meetings were fresh in his mind and he consulted his former chief of staff where it was possible and appropriate.
'He is acting like he is an angel'
"On many occasions, he met with the Guptas," Shivambu alleged.
"It is a matter of fact that the EFF removed Nhlanhla Nene and therefore Gordhan asked to postpone his testimony. How can you forget a meeting in 2010?" the EFF leader said.
Shivambu further lambasted Gordhan for portraying himself as an "angel".
"Pravin Gordhan was the biggest fundraiser for Jacob Zuma to win the presidency in Mangaung. And now he is acting like he is an angel," he said.
The EFF said it planned on questioning, in Parliament, the choice of venue for the inquiry as it allegedly housed media "owned" by Gordhan.
"We know Pravin owns the media, particularly this Tiso Blackstar. The likes of Sunday Times and Financial Mail are just his newsletters.
"That is why tomorrow in Parliament, we will ask why the state capture inquiry was held at the Tiso Blackstar building and not in a public building," Shivambu concluded.
