Gordhan: My daughter never benefited from state contracts

Public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan has hit back at the EFF over its allegations that his daughter, Anisha, benefited from state contracts.

In his closing address at the state capture commission on Wednesday, Gordhan dismissed claims by EFF leaders that his daughter was a beneficiary of state contracts. He said it was not true that his daughter held directorships or private shares in the entities listed by the EFF.

He explained that she was employed by Investec Bank between 2007 and 2017, where she was responsible for capital investments in emerging, privately owned businesses. That meant she represented Investec as a nonexecutive director on the boards of these companies. 

"It's not her money. Their job is to look after the money of the bank and the investors," he said.

Gordhan said Anisha did not benefit financially from or own any shares in the businesses directly. He said any financial compensation gained went to the bank and other investors, as well as to employees of these companies. He said it was a lie that Anisha used their relationship to get access to government tenders.

"The allegation of using the relationship with myself to get access to government tenders to benefit these companies is a blatant lie. These dangerous and unfounded allegations have been made to intimidate and harass my family and myself," he added.

Gordhan urged the EFF "not to play the man but to play the ball" and direct their political fight at him rather than members of his family. 

He said their campaign was now becoming "dangerous".

"We are also seeing a very practical manifestation of 'my enemy’s enemy is my friend'. All sorts of new alliances are being drawn in order to attack this process ... when you have a very loose political foundation and probably no principles at all to back up what one is engaged in, then anything goes."