Moyane not equal to a minister
Johannesburg - There is no equality between the SA Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner and a cabinet minister, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Monday in an apparent swipe at the Tom Moyane.
"Often you guys get it wrong. Moyane is not a minister. He is the equivalent of the head of an administration," Gordhan told reporters in Johannesburg.
"There is no equality between Moyane and a minister."
Last month, Business Day newspaper reported that Gordhan had threatened to resign after he told President Jacob Zuma that he could no longer work with Moyane, who has purged people associated with Gordhan.
Gordhan was briefing media on his roadshow to the United Kingdom and United States last week.
He said the Sars issue was raised during meetings with investors.
"The president has said he's got a process in dealing with this matter so let's give it a bit of time," Gordhan said.
I have no personal knowledge of Gupta meeting
Gordhan also said he has no personal knowledge about an alleged meeting held between his deputy Mcebisi Jonas and the Guptas.
"There is nothing I can tell you," he told reporters in Johannesburg in reaction to questions on reports that the Gupta family and deputy secretary general of the African National Congress Jesse Duarte offered Jonas the top job ahead of 9/12.
Jonas was not present at the briefing.
"You have addressed the question, while I was away, with Treasury, [and] you have a response on the record. If there is anything further to add, we will let you know."
The Sunday Times reported at the weekend that the Guptas, who are said to have close ties with President Jacob Zuma and other ANC leaders, offered Jonas the ministry's top job before Nhlanhla Nene was removed.
However, Jonas reportedly turned them down.
It also reported that the president's son Duduzane was present at a meeting at a Sandton hotel in November. The newspaper further alleged that Jonas was again offered this position a few days later by Duarte.
Earlier, Treasury strongly denied that any of its senior officials could have been the source of a report in the Sunday Times.
Gordhan on Monday reiterated Treasury's stand on the issue.
"We know nothing about that and in any event, so-called senior officials are not required to enter into the political terrain on these sorts of matters and if we do find out that somebody crossed the line, we will deal with that."
'Why leak letters?'
Gordhan questioned why a second Hawks letter apparently sent to him had been leaked.
"Why do we have to leak these things?," he asked while addressing reporters in Johannesburg.
"If you want to talk about it, hold a press conference like us, put all the facts on the table and talk about it. No need to leak in order to malign people."
However, he said news reports at the weekend claiming that a new letter had been sent to him were misleading.
"So I spent three hours with my attorney looking for this letter but the letter [the reporter] was in fact writing about was the letter of March 3," Gordhan said.
"The response to that letter was also sent out with the statement I issued... What the response, among other things, says is please tell us in terms of what legislation or part of legislation, you are doing whatever you are doing?
"The statement says once we have that clarity we will take legal advice and do whatever is the right thing to do and no one is above the law," he said.
The Hawks have given Gordhan until close of business on Monday to respond to 27 questions it sent him regarding the SA Revenue Service's "rogue unit".
Gordhan on Sunday said he had not received a second letter from the Hawks indicating a deadline for Monday.
"My attorneys have confirmed to me that no other letter has been received by their office," he said in a statement.
"I can also confirm that I am unaware of any 'new' letter."
Gordhan also criticised the special police unit and accused it of harassing him. Days before he delivered his budget, the Hawks sent him the list of questions about the so-called spy unit.
The Hawks wanted Gordhan to tell them what he knew about the unit.
This article first appeared on News24 – see here.
