Brave, tenacious, committed to principle – a tribute to Pravin Gordhan

Much has and will doubtless continue to be written about the seminal contribution of Pravin Gordhan to the struggle to end apartheid and to construct a constitutional democracy based on core principles of non-racialism and non-sexism. 

This is a personal tribute born of more than four decades of personal exchange with Pravin. 

For those of us South Africans who were engaged in one way or another in the fight to end centuries of racist rule, Pravin Gordhan was both a mentor and a model for the role a citizen in democratic South Africa should play.   

In my case, whenever I was despondent that South Africa’s journey towards constitutional democracy was to be derailed, Pravin was always there, reassuring me that, difficult as the journey would continue to be, the fight had to continue for a non-racial democracy. 

Of course, he had an immense political pedigree. His contribution to the anti-apartheid struggle was considerable. It required all of those characteristics which he exhibited throughout his life; bravery, tenacity, commitment to principle, sacrifice of his personal ambitions to the greater social good and an unbending belief that tomorrow could bring a better day and an improved society.   

I began to have my most meaningful exchanges with Pravin at Codesa where he was the most impressive chair in guiding deliberations and ensuring movement towards the conclusion of the interim Constitution.  

Within a few years of the dawn of democracy, Pravin assumed office first as Deputy Commissioner of the SA Revenue Service and then as the Commissioner. That SARS was turned into a world-class revenue collection agency was due in the main to his vision, leadership and ability to attract outstanding personnel including many employees of SARS who had served during the apartheid period.   

Of course, a new group also emerged; among them was Edward Kieswetter, later to become an outstanding SARS Commissioner himself.

In these appointments, the measure of Pravin Gordhan was that he looked at the character of a person rather than some superficial assessment of their past in order to retain experience, promote excellence and vindicate his vision of a service that could collect the necessary revenue for the State to transform our society.

About a year ago I attended a meeting in the SARS offices in Cape Town, which was deemed a suitable venue for a meeting of the drafting team of one of Pravin’s last but most important initiatives; legislation that would promote accountability, transparency and efficiency of those enterprises deemed necessary to be run in whole or in part by the State.  

Within a short space of time, word got out that Mr Gordhan was in the SARS offices. To my amazement, a host of “old-timers” who had been at SARS during the Gordhan period rushed up to the floor to greet him, take selfies with him and hug him.  

The level of loyalty and respect that all of these employees exhibited towards Pravin Gordhan, many years after he had left SARS, was testimony to the climate that he created which had powered the service to be the jewel in the state crown.

Many would suggest that his periods as Minister of Finance were not quite as successful. But he was put in an impossible position, unlike his distinguished predecessor, Trevor Manuel, who had the unequivocal backing of then-president Thabo Mbeki.  

Pravin had to negotiate within a context of State Capture and a president who was central to that very enterprise. Many might have thought this was an appointment not worth taking but his commitment to the greater good of South Africa dictated otherwise. 

During his first term as Minister of Finance, when he appointed me to chair a committee to revamp tax policy, there were many proposals on the table which would have greatly improved the context in which economic policy in general and fiscal policy, in particular, could have been developed.  

However, progressive policy became a clear threat to the enterprise of State Capture. At this moment, Pravin’s true character came to the fore. He was, more than any other South African, the person who understood the value of constitutional democracy, of the principles of accountability and transparency.    

He had the courage to defend the project politically. It was he who urged the country to join the dots to examine the extent of the rapacious corruption that was taking place under our noses. At that time, he was the effective leader of the opposition.   

Given that he was a member of the ANC, and a very loyal one at that, this was a very difficult role to play. Yet when the history of South Africa is written, the role that Pravin Gordhan played to create a viable defence to the State Capture enterprise will surely go down as one of the great contributions to the protection and promotion of constitutional democracy in South Africa.  

The reward that he received was predictable. Incessant racist attacks by members of the EFF, shameful conduct on the part of the National Prosecuting Authority – led at that time by Shaun Abrahams – and a Public Protector whose main role, it appeared, was to be in the vanguard of Jacob Zuma’s enterprise to crush any viable opposition to the rent-seeking project which was rapidly replacing the model of constitutional democracy.

That Pravin Gordhan exhibited the courage and resilience to stare down all these outrageous attacks on himself and his family is a testament to the man. But I for one will never forgive those who were responsible for those vicious assaults on Pravin and his family, which doubtless must have impacted on his health. None of us should!

In many ways, he was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t. Many journalists who purport to be ‘economic’ commentators of a liberal hew spent gallons of ink excoriating Pravin Gordhan for being an ideologue and not understanding the reality of contemporary economics.   

I can testify to the many exchanges that he and I had about progressive economic thinking, including the works of Joseph Stiglitz and Dani Rodrick, from which writings he was constantly seeking to conceive of progressive economic policy which would be congruent with our constitutional commitments. This proved to be truly difficult because of the political context.  

It was not helped by the dire state of economic commentary in South Africa, so much of which is predicated on an economic orthodoxy, now subject to significant critique sourced in important economic contemporary thinking.  

It should be emphasised that it was Pravin Gordhan, together with President Ramaphosa, who sought to draft new legislation to ensure that whatever entities were controlled by the State in whole or in part, they would fulfil their mandate of service delivery and would do so in a transparent and accountable way, eschewing all forms of corruption which characterised state-owned companies until that point.

Perhaps the most remarkable feature of Pravin Gordhan was that he was far less concerned with his own interests than he was with the commitment to ensuring that a non-racial and non-sexist democracy would take place in South Africa. This was a case of ensuring that the country should benefit, unlike populist politicians who were his bitter opponents.  

The country has lost one of its foremost defenders of that project. 

It is up to us who remain behind to continue this legacy if the country is to fulfil its true promise. And it is also up to us to turn to his family, his wife Vani and his children, and to pay tribute to them for the sacrifices they endured so that Pravin Gordhan could make such a meaningful contribution to this country.  

We have lost a great fighter for democracy and we are all the poorer for his passing. DM