Moyane’s attack on Gordhan ‘totally disrespectful’‚ says COPE

Congress of the People says the strained relationship between Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan and SARS Commissioner Tom Moyane that Moyane is talking about is part of a well planned strategy by the Zuma faction to get rid of Gordhan.

“The public attack from this official to the Minister is uncalled for. We say it is totally unacceptable that an official can be so disrespectful and defiant to the political head‚ the Minister‚” COPE spokesman Dennis Bloem said on Saturday.

“Moyane has clearly shown that he is unwilling and does not recognise Minister Gordhan as his boss.

“The mere fact that Moyane has an open communication line with the President‚ to such an extent that he even requested Zuma to intervene in their strained relationship with Gordhan is enough prove that Mr Zuma is having more time to listen to Moyane who is part of his faction that wants to see the back of Gordhan‚” Bloem asserted.

BusinessLIVE reported that Moyane on Friday complained that Gordhan treats him like a "non-entity" and screams and shouts in meetings‚ describing the relationship between them as strained.

• Moyane demands respect from GordhanSA Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Tom Moyane has asked Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan for "cordiality and respect" as the relationship between the Treasury and revenue collection arm becomes increasingly frosty. 

This week‚ Gordhan said economic conditions as well as issues at the revenue service were to blame for the revenue collection shortage of R30bn‚ but on Friday Moyane denied this‚ saying it was mostly due to economic factors.

At a media briefing in Pretoria‚ Moyane described the relationship between himself and Gordhan as being on the brink of collapse. He accused the minister of delaying the approval of key appointments in SARS and of undue interference in its operations.

The BusinessLIVE report quoted Moyane as saying there is an "inability to resolve current challenges" in the relationship between the two because of a "personality cult" around the minister and around himself as the commissioner. "It’s strange‚ in meetings he [Gordhan] treats me as if I am a non-entity... I feel the stick used against SARS is as if it is under an incompetent leader."

• What have I ever done to you that you treat me like a little boy - Moyane to GordhanThe icy relationship between Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and South African Revenue Service commissioner Tom Moyane has been confirmed in 16 confidential letters‚ according to a report on Friday. 

Moyane has asked President Jacob Zuma to appoint a third party to mediate in the relationship between the two and has denied allocating and paying a bonus to himself‚ as alleged in media reports‚ BusinessLIVE said.

Bloem said COPE was not surprised by the SARS media briefing. “We can only describe it as a well calculated move because it came just two days after Minister Gordhan's Budget Speech - the budget that was well accepted by the majority of the people‚” he said.

He added: “COPE is calling upon Mr Zuma to put the interest of the country first and not his personal interests. We say Zuma must take action against Moyane and fire him immediately.”