Chairperson of the portfolio committee on public enterprises Khaya Magaxa denied asking President Cyril Ramaphosa to remove Minister Pravin Gordhan. Picture: Leon Lestrade/Independent Newspapers
The chairperson of the National Assembly’s portfolio committee on public enterprises, Khaya Magaxa, has denied claims that he has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa calling for the removal of Minister Pravin Gordhan.
He said the letter circulating on social media under his name was fake.
He said he has not written to Ramaphosa calling for the axing of Gordhan as minister of public enterprises.
The committee and Gordhan were locked in a stand-off on Wednesday in a meeting in Parliament over the sale of SAA.
This follows allegations made by former Director-General in the department Kgathatso Tlhakudi that there was impropriety in the SAA deal.
Gordhan had called for an in camera meeting with members of the committee.
The committee and Gordhan have been at loggerheads over the last few months with Gordhan failing to show up at meetings of the committee to answer on the sale of SAA.
On Thursday, Magaxa denied he wrote to Ramaphosa calling for Gordhan to be removed.
He said the letter circulating on social media was fake.
“It has come to my attention that there is a letter purportedly written by me as the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises, which is currently circulating on social media. I would like to categorically state that this letter is fake and written for malicious reasons,” said Magaxa.
“We urge the public to exercise caution and verify the authenticity of any information it comes across on social media platforms.”
The SAA of sale to Takatso consortium sparked debate in parliament with members of the committee demanding answers from Gordhan.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
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