Courts, intelligence report pulled into Zuma-Gordhan battle

The media yesterday lifted the lid on the reasons President Jacob Zuma ordered Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan to cut short his post-Budget investment roadshow in London, saying the decision was based on a ’bizarre intelligence report’ claiming Gordhan was at the centre of a plot to turn international bankers against him, notes Legalbrief. The astonishing claim (see reports below) comes at a time when the courts are again being dragged into a political conflict and Zuma is coming under pressure on all sides – business, the tripartite allies, his own top six in the ANC and very likely, the Gupta family, whose banking troubles will reach a critical point tomorrow, says a Business Day report. It says the urgency for Zuma to act on Gordhan is underlined by the looming loss of banking facilities for the Guptas by the end of March. The newspaper says it understands that more than half of the bank accounts of Gupta-related entities have been closed in recent weeks by their last remaining bankers, the Bank of Baroda, with the process continuing. This dire situation for the Guptas was compounded yesterday by the Reserve Bank giving notice that it will oppose an urgent application by Vardospan Limited – a Gupta ally – to force it to make a determination on its application to acquire a majority stake in Habib Bank. Vardospan wants the matter heard today and wants the Bank to make a determination by tomorrow. An affidavit deposed by Vardospan director Hamza Farooqui argues that it has been seven months since the application was made. He accuses the Bank and Gordhan, who is cited as a respondent, of failing to take a timeous decision on the matter, and is demanding that a decision be taken 24 hours after the application to the court is decided on.