The Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) and Freedom Under Law (FUL) would provide legal assistance should the Hawks take Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and his former South African Revenue Service (Sars) colleagues to court.“We are in discussion with our boards at this present time‚" FUL’s chairperson‚ retired Constitutional Court justice Johann Kriegler‚ saidBoth organisations had earlier on Thursday called on South Africans to rise up and provide support to Gordhan - the prime target of a Hawks investigation into a rogue South African Revenue Service (Sars) intelligence-gathering unit.From early this morning‚ dozens of supporters for Gordhan and his fellow suspects in the alleged rogue unit probe - former Sars officials Ivan Pillay and Johann van Loggerenberg - gathered outside the Hawks headquarters in Pretoria.It’s here that the trio were summoned to appear to provide warning statements.Pillay and van Loggerenberg had acceded to the Hawks’ demand that they present themselves for a warning statement‚ while Gordhan indicated that he has more pressing business - which includes staving off a looming national credit downgrade - to deal with.In a strongly worded statement‚ HSF and FUL lashed out at the Hawks and the politically driven investigation.story_article_left1Kriegler said they were speaking on behalf of all like-minded South Africans “irrespective of political persuasion”.“Not only the charges baseless‚ but the manner in which they have been pursued is clearly calculated to besmirch the names of the individuals and has predictably already seriously impaired our national economy.”He said those behind the campaign of public vilification and persecution must have “known this from the onset”.“This is a massive hunt and there is nothing to hunt.”
Kriegler said “recent reports suggested corrupt motives involving massive sums of money and tension between the Presidency and the Treasury”.“We do not speculate. We know that‚ whatever the motives‚ the agency being primarily used to pursue the campaign is the Hawks‚ which is headed by a man whose appointment and fitness to hold office are currently being challenged in the courts.“So is the hounding from office of his predecessor and the effective destruction of the senior command structure of not only the Hawks‚ but of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate‚ and even more ominously‚ the National Prosecuting Authority itself."story_article_right2He said most disturbing was that none of those being publically humiliated was ever given a proper opportunity to answers the charges in the course of the one-sided “investigations” of unsubstantiated allegations.“Dragging in Minister Gordhan is all the more outrageous. The timing and the manner of the steps taken against him evidence ill-will towards a loyal public servant who‚ together with the then finance minister Trevor Manuel and their team of reformers‚ created arguably the most efficient government agency of the new South Africa. He does not deserve this. Neither do we‚” he said.Kriegler called on all South Africans to come out in support of the trio. "We need people to stand up and say enough is enough. No more will this be allowed to continue."Anti-apartheid struggle stalwart and human rights activist George Bizos said he was concerned because the law is concerned about ensuring that justice was done.“We are concerned that people are being unjustly persecuted in invalid prosecutions and we are concerned about the future of the country.“We are concerned about the future of justice and law in South Africa. Judge Kriegler and I‚ and many others‚ fought against apartheid for many years. We are concerned that the past events are being repeated now‚” Bizos said. – TMG Digital/The Times..