The allegations of arrogance raised against Pravin Gordhan (PG) relate to his relationship with the State Owned enterprises that had to a large extent fallen captive in the Zuma/Gupta period of State capture.  But controversy around attempts to prevent corruption go back to the UDF period and Gordhan’s role in the NIC.

Corruption, the “cabal” claim, and anti-Indianism

During the development of the popular movement and the Indian Congresses in particular, there were periodically incidents or practices that could be described or were described as corrupt, and the person who was accused frequently evoked an anti-Indian sentiment often mentioning PG or YM especially (Yunus Mohamed who was inseparable from Pravin and at the forefront of building structures while being a “Struggle lawyer”).

It would often be referred to as something that was “set up” or concocted by what was called the “cabal”, a tight group of people who were key figures in the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) and Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC), to the extent that they were identified, who were primarily Indians.

That way of operating entailed blaming the person or people who exposed alleged corruption and has continued into the period of liberation from 1994 onwards, where people like Pravin, who were in the forefront of exposing corruption in state owned enterprises and other areas, came under fire for allegedly being corrupt themselves (and that is alleged on Twitter/X right now).

The focus on Indians as accusers often fed into a broader anti-Indianism.  This was of special concern because one of the key factors that the ANC and NIC had tackled was to build unity after the 1949 African/Indian violent conflict, with people like Chief Albert Luthuli, then ANC President and Dr Monty Naicker of the NIC forming a close bond. Many photographs of Chief Luthuli show him being hosted at Indian dinners.

Most crudely this was and is seen in the EFF references to PG, where they used his middle name, Jamnadas.  To people who had not come across the name or did not know what it meant, it had an exotic sound. Exotic is something that is not part of us, but sometimes has a positive quality.

But in this case, the exotic was a way of Othering Pravin, and by implication, Indian people, as those who do not belong here. It was in fact a species of xenophobia, with precedents in the earlier history of Indians in South Africa.

Pravin was a “loyalist”

When Pravin came under attack, he was not defended with the same vigour as many others. While Pravin himself put his neck out defending leading figures on many occasions, very few people came to his defence when he was attacked. And in a sense, the anti-Indianism which it represented was colluded in by most of his comrades. 

To the last moment he remained very loyal to President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC, and he would not feed into negative sentiments that would weaken either of them. Pravin was a loyalist to his last breath.

It is sad that when Pravin dies, the full measure of his strengths are to a significant extent undermined by suggestions of how “difficult” or “irascible” he was, how his “strength” was, in a sense, a “weakness”- because it alienated people.

Statements like these make it hard to form an adequate assessment of his life. Even at this moment of death, while many of us are mourning Pravin, others are stressing only that he was impatient and angry and similar negative attributes.

The impatience or stress on doing things correctly is not contextualised and he is merely referred to as ill-tempered without looking at the merits of specific situations in relation to his broad engagements and contributions.

Mondli Makhanya, Editor in Chief of City Press, tries to contextualise the tension:

“He was now being characterised as an arrogant, unlistening control freak whose continued presence in his portfolio [when Minister of State Owned Enterprises] was stymying the repair of institutions that were pivotal to the country’s economic revitalisation.

“This was a jolt to a man who had dedicated all his adult his life to the service of the people of the republic. 

“He found himself in unfamiliar territory as a media that had once treated him with relative deference was now asking tough questions and throwing barbs in his direction.” 

Mondli met Pravin after he berated City Press following an attack on his record:

“The man who came through the gate on that Monday in March was that diminished figure, unsure how to respond to a world in which his legacy was being questioned when he had little time left to set things right. 

“It is a pity that he had to bow out on that note, but even those serious lapses in his sunset years do not take away from the years of selfless service to the republic and its people. That is what the ahistorical crowd that are dancing on his grave do not grasp. 

“None of these vulgar characterisations [referring mainly to the EFF] fits the person of Pravin Gordhan, who was an ardent non-racialist, a servant of the South African masses and a man who risked all to fight the devil called corruption.”

Pravin in Zuma government

I personally did not support Pravin (who asked me what I thought at the time) or anyone else going into the Jacob Zuma-led government, but to the extent that Pravin and certain others were in good faith, I did not attack them.

I believed it would have been wrong to attack their acting in good faith to try and change the ANC and government from within, and I believe that we must respect what is done honestly, even if we disagree. I could not deny their integrity because I believed their political judgement was wrong. 

It is in any case, difficult to argue the merits of something that is ongoing, where someone is doing something - from within - that in many respects mitigates or limits the damage that was done in the Zuma era.

Collapse of organisation: Pravin today

What I think is one of the weaknesses of the GNU today is that organisation of the ANC has collapsed with the general loss of its connection to the people and loss of the culture of debate, part of a more general depoliticisation.

Members are hardly inducted into the values and history of the organisation, as used to happen in better times. It is likely that Pravin would - in retirement - have engaged with ANC structures with a view to these qualities being revived. 

He would have been needed because one of the reasons why the ANC and the GNU cannot make the proposed “national dialogue” successful is that there's no organisation. The only place where there had been sustained mass organisation was in the ANC and its allies, and that is no longer the force that it once was. And there's no sign that people are rebuilding it.

I join with many, many others in mourning the death of Pravin, a man with qualities that are not found in abundance. I hope that the emerging generation will study and emulate his life as part of investing in a truly free South Africa.

One leading journalist described Gordhan as a “former freedom fighter”. No harm was meant but it is inaccurate. He remained a freedom fighter until his death. 

I can do no better, in conclusion than echo the sentiments of Mcebisi Jonas: “My heart bleeds for Vanitha, Anisha and Priyesha as this was meant to be their time with PG. After all they have endured, they deserved time with him.” 

Hamba Kahle Comrade Pravin. Hamba Kahle Mkhonto!

Raymond Suttner is an Emeritus Professor at the University of South Africa and a Research Associate in the English Department at University of the Witwatersrand. He served lengthy periods as a political prisoner. His writings cover contemporary politics, history, and social questions. His X (twitter) handle is @raymondsuttner.