Compiler of Gordhan ‘intelligence report’ a friend of the Guptas
A lawyer who put together an intelligence document on Pravin Gordhan has been a regular guest and analyst on Gupta-owned TV network ANN7.
Ex-Deputy Finance Minister, Mcebisi Jonas and Ex-Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan during a press conference held inside the National Treasury, Mcebisi and Pravin were fired the night before during a Cabinet reshuffle by President Jacob Zuma, 31 March 2017, Pretoria. Picture: Jacques Nelles
Zehir Omar, a lawyer for the Society for the Protection of our Constitution (SPOC), received confidential and highly sensitive information that fired finance minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas were set to meet with international finance firms to push for a change in government.
This information was sourced from Russian, Iran and Indian agencies, according to News24. Upon receiving this intelligence, Omar proceeded to author a document that was distributed to concerned parties, including Luthuli House.
Though the document Omar compiled was allegedly not the same one President Jacob Zuma relied on to justify his axing of Gordhan and Jonas, its contents are similar in that both documents detail how Gordhan was due to meet with companies intent on undermining Zuma’s administration and have the Russian, Indian and Iranian agencies as sources.
“In my view, the coincidence may be linked to the authenticity of the information.
“On the balance of probability, I would say that the information in the government intelligence report came from the same Indian, Iranian and Russian intelligence sources from whom we got our information,” Omar told News24.
The SACP revealed during a press conference last week Tuesday that they were told by Zuma about an intelligence report compiled by the SA government implicating Gordhan and Jonas. The pair had met Zuma on Sunday and, after receiving his support to journey to London for the international investor roadshow, were abruptly recalled a day later on Monday.
According to the SACP, Zuma would fire Gordhan based on the report that stated that he was planning to meet with people to cause instability in his government.
At a press conference held by the ANC to clarify the National Working Committee’s stance on Zuma’s Cabinet reshuffle, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said the party stood by Zuma’s decision to axe Gordhan, as their working relationship had become strained in the past year.
Gupta lawyer Gert van der Merwe said ANN7 chose their own panels and experts, and that was not influenced by the family. Omar said the Guptas were being used as tool to “wrest” control from white monopoly capital, and they were promoting the aims of the ANC.
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