The copyright act of 1978 (as amended) prohibits the reproduction of this copy IN ANY FORMAT, (See Clause 4 Terms and Conditions) without prior permission of the original publisher. Publication CITY PRESS JHB Page 1-2 Date Sun 19 Aug 2018 AVE (ZAR) 79382.11 UY RAMA 2R0USAAL =SA FIGHTBACK Fired and suspended leaders of major state entities say the president is using state machinery to figh during state capture investigations aimed at clawing back billions lost in public funds SETUMO STONE and ABRAM MASHEGO [email protected] uspended and fired executives of state-owned enterprises and their allies are bracing for open warfare with President Cyril Ramaphosa, who they accuse of using state machinery to fight political battles. The coordinated plan to fight back revolves around those who are linked to powerful current and former leaders of major state entities, Matshela Koko and Brian Molefe of Eskom, Tom Moyane of the SA Revenue Service (Sars) and Siyabonga Gama of Transnet, all of whom have been described by allies as faces of "black excellence" in management. The plan is to expose government's alleged foul play in various ongoing state capture probes that form a part of Ramaphosa's efforts to claw back billions in public funds allegedly looted during former president Jacob Zuma's administration. The judicial commission of inquiry into state capture led by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo starts tomorrow in Johannesburg. The inquiry seeks to establish how the Gupta family, Zuma's benefact ors, were enabled to loot the state. Ramaphosa's detractors have described Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan as the current administration's "hitman". An unsigned document that was circulated this week accused the minister of a "selective drive" to oust Gama from Transnet using the state-owned enterprise's board chair Popo Molefe as a proxy. "We urge President Ramaphosa to rein in this super prime minister," wrote the unidentified authors. Other fronts of the battle involve legal warfare, where each of the "targeted" would exhaust any means of litigation available to push Ramaphosa back, as well as lobby to win the support of sympathetic ANC branches. The part of the plan involving the ANC would culminate in a challenge against Ramaphosa's authority in the party at its next national general council. Koko threw the first punch this week in an article published in the Daily Maverick in which he accused the state of sliding into "McCarthyism", referring to the role of the late US senator Joseph McCarthy, who conducted a witch-hunt for suspected communists. Koko, who was out of the country, told City Press he had "no doubt that some of us have been targeted". "I meant it when I talked about the McCarthyists in our midst. If there is a prima facie case against me, then, by all means, let the law take its course without prejudice," he said. "What is happening here is that some of us are put aside in the name of fighting corruption, and nothing else happens after that. In my case, it is about the renewable energy independent power producer programme and the end state of the electricity supply industry. The personalities that are involved know it," he said. Gama said "the time for me to comment on these matters has not yet come", and denied knowledge of the circulated document accusing Gordhan of plotting against him. Clockwise from top: Tom Moyane, Siyabonga Gama, Brian Molef e, Matshela Koko and President Cyril Ramaphosa City Press has copies of letters Gama wrote to Popo Molefe this month, including one on Thursday that said "selected and untested negative information" was leaked to the media to tarnish his name. Gama said information came from incomplete Transnet investigations into the locomotives tender and the intention was to deliberately subject him to "a court of public opinion to pass judgement". Indications were also that Gama's letter was preparing grounds for a tussle in the Labour Court. Gama, Transnet Engineering chief executive Thamsanqa Jiyane and Transnet executive manager Lindiwe Mdletshe were given until the end of business tomorrow to put their cases to the board on why they should not be placed on suspension pending further investigations. Gama wrote that, in one meeting, he was accused by one of the board members of having presided over fraud, corruption and malfeasance at Transnet. "The statement undoubtedly created the impression that I was an accomplice to and an enabler of corruption," he said. Gama warned the board not to take action based on an "incomplete investigation; this will ensure that the Transnet balance sheet is not unduly exposed to damage claims occasioned by a Transnet-commissioned report that misses key issues". The contents of the letters shared similarities with the circulated document, which also referred to Gama as a representative of black excellence. The document further stated that Gordhan's plan was to oust Gama before Transnet's results announcement this week so that he and the board could "take the limelight [and] steal the thunder". Former Sars chief operating officer Edward Kieswetter was mentioned as Gama's possible replacement. The authors said that "a Sars clique" was re-establishing itself at Transnet: "The desire for justice, reparation and clean governance is not the sole mission of Gordhan, thus this fellow cannot usurp unto himself the holier-than-thou attitude or a supremacist posture in the anti-corruption fight." When called for comment, Moyane said he was "in a meeting", while Brian Molefe did not respond to calls or messages. Gordhan told City Press it was time the country took "a firm public stand against corruption" based on principle. He said allegations against him were "a clear but desperate campaign by many implicated individuals to cause public confusion, and to discredit a bona fide legal process through which they have to account for their respective roles in corrupting and destroying the capabilities of a number of state institutions". He said that the state entities affected by corruption were critical for the economy to function effectively. "We make no apology for doing what is in the best interests of the country, and we must openly challenge whoever wrote these documents and 'dossiers' to come out and put their names to this 'fightback' campaign and to disclose in whose interests they act." Continued on page 2