S. Africa cabinet reaffirms support for embattled finance minister

The South African cabinet reaffirms its support for Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan who is involved in a legal battle with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Jeff Radebe said Thursday.

"Cabinet has affirmed its support for Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, who under Section 35 of the Constitution, is innocent until proven otherwise by a court of law," Radebe told reporters in Pretoria following a cabinet meeting.

The NPA announced last week that it had issued a formal summon to Gordhan, ordering him to appear in court on Nov. 2 over fraud charges.

NPA head Shaun Abrahams said Gordhan, former South African Revenue Service (SARS) Commissioner Oupa Magashule and former SARS Deputy Commissioner Ivan Pillay would be charged with fraud amounting to more than 1.1 million rand (about 78,000 U.S. dollars) in relation to Pillay's early retirement pay-out.

Gordhan is also accused of illegally setting up a "rogue unit" to spy on taxpayers when he was SARS commissioner between 1999 and 2009.

The cabinet remains confident in the country's criminal justice system and the fair and just judicial processes, Radebe said.

President Jacob Zuma as well as his deputy Cyril Ramaphosa have previously expressed support for Gordhan. Enditem