As Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan readies to leave office after the May 29 elections, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has less than warm words for him, describing his tenure as “disastrous”.

On Friday, Gordhan’s department announced his intention to retire from active politics when the term of the current administration ends after the elections.

Gordhan has led Public Enterprises since 2018, having been appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa, and will be leaving what the DA says is “a trail of destruction in the State-owned enterprises (SOEs) sector”.

“Gordhan stood idly by as Eskom lurched from one crisis to another. Since his appointment to the Public Enterprises portfolio, South Africans have spent more days in the dark than at any other time since the crisis began 17 years ago. By failing to decisively deal with the loadshedding crisis, Gordhan should shoulder part of the blame for South Africa’s struggling economy, loss of jobs, closure of businesses, and attendant decline in private sector investment,” said DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises Mimmy Gondwe.

Recently, Gordhan has faced criticism for not disclosing the sale agreements related to the South African Airways (SAA)/Takatso deal.

“Gordhan has gone to extreme lengths to try and co-opt Parliament into his long drawn-out plan to maintain a veil of secrecy on the SAA/Takatso deal,” Gondwe said.

She further blamed Gordhan for the bailouts that some SOEs received, at the expense of the taxpayer, accusing him of squandering the public goodwill he held at the start of his role as Public Enterprises Minister.

She also called him out for not backing former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter when he made allegations of widespread corruption at the State power utility, linking politicians and criminal networks.

She said Gordhan had closed ranks with the African National Congress (ANC) and victimised De Ruyter, instead of investigating the allegations he had made.

“Gordhan has himself to blame for choosing to be an ANC lackey rather than a principled public servant for the greater good. South Africans should vote in their millions on 29 May to send the rest of his comrades packing from government. The DA is the only party big enough and with the institutional capacity to rescue South Africa and get our country working again,” Gondwe said.