A senior advocate known for his previous corruption fighting role in the National Prosecuting Authority‚ Willie Hofmeyr‚ has publicly allied himself with Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan. This comes just three days after current prosecuting authority boss Shaun Abrahams announced that the prosecuting authority had summoned Gordhan to appear in court on charges of fraud in November.Gordhan is charged with fraud relating to his approval of early retirement of his former deputy‚ Ivan Pillay‚ when he was commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (Sars).Hofmeyr has aligned himself with a lobby group called "Hands Off Pravin Gordhan"‚ which has been gaining momentum on social media platforms.The former head of the NPA's Asset Forfeiture Unit (ASU) shared a message by the group on Thursday which read "In the space of 24 hours we have reached more than 165‚000 people and have more than 3‚400 page likes. Continue to share and create a support base for Pravin that can helped prevent his arrest and that we can mobilise to defend him as he defends our country from a ratings downgrade".The rand weakened against the dollar this week following Abrahams' announcement‚ prompting a wave of support and calls from high profile members of the society for charges against Gordhan to be dropped. South Africa’s Catholic Bishops are amongst those who have pledged their support‚ calling on South Africans to demonstrate their moral support for Gordhan‚ emphasising that he shouldn’t be put under pressure to resign.ANC heavyweights including former president Kgalema Motlanthe‚ veteran Ahmed Kathrada‚ Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom and former parliamentary speaker Max Sisulu have also said they will be present to lend their support to Gordhan when he appears in court on fraud charges in November. ..