President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers the eulogy at the funeral of former minister Pravin Gordhan. (@PresidencyZA/X)
The ANC owes it to Pravin Gordhan's legacy to eradicate state takeover and corruption and ensure the system is set up to fulfil the promises of democracy, former minister Mac Maharaj said at his funeral on Thursday.
Maharaj told mourners that it was a cold hard fact that those responsible for the state hijack have not been brought to justice.
“We remain committed to the challenge of bringing to justice those involved in the state takeover and rooting out corruption in both the public and private sectors,” he said.
“We are imbued with the spirit that we are one people and one nation and to be successful in removing this major obstacle to creating a better life for all, we need the ANC to get its organisation in order and become fit for purpose, as Pravin wants us to do.”
“That state institutions will perform to their capacity, that the media will continue to investigate, that civil society will thrive, and that we will continue to strengthen accountability and participatory democracy.”
Borrowing from Gordhan's strategy of reviving popular resistance to apartheid, Maharaj added: “Organize, raise awareness, mobilize. Make democracy happen.”
He said Gordhan and his trusted colleagues at the Treasury, former deputy minister Mtsevisi Jonas, director-general Lungisa Fusile and other capable staff at the South African Revenue Service resisted the state takeover and saved the country from collapse.
“Without them, our beloved country would have become a banana republic.”
The call to praise Gordhan for figuring out how to fix a country wracked by corruption was echoed by others who praised him, including President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“The most fitting tribute we can pay to Pravin is for us to reflect on our own actions and what each of us can and should do to better serve our people and our country,” President Ramaphosa said.
“To reflect on what it means to be an activist, and that was him. To consider whether we are prepared to weather the great storms that acts of courage and integrity often face. These are indeed questions we must all consider as we say goodbye to one of our nation's greatest sons.”
“It is in difficult times that moral courage is most valued,” he said, adding that Gordon had it in abundance. “There was no doubt about Pravin Gordon's position.”
An emotional Ramaphosa warned Gordhan's end was near and thanked his family for allowing him to spend a few hours with them last week, saying he believed Gordhan was waiting for him.
“In a way, I think he was waiting for me to come and see him before he left.
“He was my comrade, my colleague and a great friend,” he added, stressing that he was much loved in all capacities.
He said there was no doubt that the government was committed to rebuilding the country as a free, fair and equal democracy.
“Pravin Gordhan's spear has fallen and now it is our responsibility to pick it up and take the country forward… What Pravin dedicated his life to is what we will continue to do so that we do not let him down.”
In his eulogy, Jonas said Gordon had a “brave heart and no time for cowards.”
His determined resistance to the seizure of the state and to the original principles of the struggle led Gordon to become increasingly isolated within the movement that had been his political stronghold throughout his life, he recalled.
“He was ostracized internally, and not just in ideas and actions; he was one of the few people within the movement who remained firm in its non-racial traditions, even in the face of what I call a growing parochial Africanist populism.”
But when President Ramaphosa offered him the post of head of public enterprises and the task of rescuing the same organisations crippled by corruption that he had fought against, he did not hesitate, Jonas said.
“Many of those who previously shouted our names to denounce state control have now either become silent or are critical of how the control networks in state-owned companies are being dismantled,” he said.
“So no one else would have drank the poisoned chalice, but PG did. And he did it very consciously. He understood that you can't leave the monopolization project to the monopolies themselves… so he jumped in the ring.”
Even on his deathbed, Gordon continued to think about the future and was convinced of the need for a new mass movement for social cohesion and a commitment to building a better country, he said.
“If you think about it, it's a very fundamental vision that will help give the national unity government more legitimacy and a stronger social base.”
Jonas warned that state institutions remain fragile and said it is not possible to talk of renewal on the one hand and repeat the “old politics” on the other.
“A reset is not likely to happen. The country is in dire need of new ideas. We need new thinking.”
Former Trade and Industry Secretary Ebrahim Patel paid tribute to Chancellor Gordon's work, including raising funds to provide antiretroviral treatment to public health, which he said saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of people who would have died from AIDS.
Similarly, Gordhan did not see the fight against state takeover as an abstract concept but as a desperate fight to protect basic services and funds meant for the poor in the form of subsidies, he added.
Patel, like Maharaj, said the most fitting tribute to his former colleague was to intensify the struggle.
Former Chief Justice Raymond Zondo thanked Gordon for his cooperation with the commission of inquiry into state takeover and recalled the persecution and humiliation he suffered in his final years as finance minister in the Zuma government.
Zondo said Gordon knew they were being done to force him to resign and deliberately resisted.
“He was harassed for doing nothing but his job… He understood that resigning would make it easier to appoint another minister who would not resist the state takeover.”
He recalled that before President Zuma fired Gordhan in 2017, he was given the opportunity to step down with dignity but he refused.
Zondo said Gordon was the epitome of a public servant dedicated to the cause.
“My hope is that we don’t just finish praising him today, which is natural, but that, realistically, we wake up tomorrow and get to work, not as usual.
“There must be decisions we make to combat corruption and state takeover. We know that when Pravin Gordon passed away, this was one of the things we decided to do as a country to effectively tackle corruption and state takeover.”
Mr Gordon's eldest daughter, Anisha, rejected criticism that his tenure as minister for public enterprises had been a failure as “untrue” and said his decisions about SAA and other parastatals had always been based on consideration for staff and their families.
She said the smear campaign Gordon faced for refusing to abandon the fight against corruption had led former friends in the fight and states to turn their backs on him.
“All of this ultimately led to many comrades and friends distancing themselves from my father and our family. Despite this, my father remained steadfast and more determined than ever,” she said.
“The moderates who didn't want to take a stand are now standing at the podium yelling praise at him, but the courage to connect the dots and stand up for change is long overdue. He has repeatedly said that our souls are not for sale and neither is our country.”
“My father's integrity was never compromised,” she said.