Amid swirling rumours and denials of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s impending political demise‚ economic analyst Peter Attard Montalto notes that the ongoing battle between the “tenderpreneur” and “anti-tenderpreneur” camps is going the way of President Jacob Zuma. “President Zuma’s position appears to be more powerful and secure now than at any time since Nene-gate in December. We think this because the ANC processes have largely buried any hope of his imminent removal and also reflects power gained from captured security‚ police and prosecuting structures‚” he said in a research note.Pravin Gordhan faces 'imminent arrest'As finance ministers‚ both Nhlanhla Nene and Pravin Gordhan are respected by the markets and perceived as trying to ensure fiscal prudence at a range of state entities including SA Airways and plans for a massive nuclear build deal.The Sunday Times reported at the weekend that Gordhan was to be arrested on charges of espionage‚ which are linked to the activities of the so-called SA Revenue Service “rogue unit”‚ established while he was SARS commissioner. This was roundly denied by the Presidency and on Monday‚ National Prosecuting Authority boss Advocate Shaun Abrahams was quoted in The Times as saying the docket had been referred back to the Hawks investigators‚ “with guidance”.Attard Montalto described it as a significant step-up in the ongoing battle between the tenderpreneur camp with President Zuma as its head and anti-tenderpreneur camp with Pravin Gordhan as its notional head.Noting that Zuma was forced into reappointing Gordhan because of the strong negative reaction to Nene’s ousting‚ Attard Montalto warned that markets were vastly underestimating the political risk.The Nomura analyst wrote: “President Zuma is hunting for any route to remove Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan‚ which should be hard but not impossible.“All sides have since denied there is anything going on‚ with the Presidency also denying any imminent reshuffle. However‚ it is assumed that any arrests should take place after the 3 August local elections so as not to disrupt ANC chances then.“President Zuma is not a lame duck – that was seen recently during his tour of parastatals as well as by some of his speeches and local election campaign events where he has appeared in good mood‚ batting away issues of state capture and talking up the role of the state and state-owned enterprises in transformation.“Equally there are many around President Zuma who dismiss the risks of market dislocation and of downgrades‚ see investors and ratings agencies as ‘counter-revolutionary’ and think the President should be pursuing a more inward-focusing agenda instead. In other words‚ market forces are not a total deterrent.”For both sides the conflict is existential to different visions of South Africa‚ he said.“Pravin Gordhan has to successfully defend against every attack; President Zuma ultimately has to win only once.”..