In his speech honouring former Public Enterprises Minister and struggle stalwart Pravin Gordhan, fellow activist and former politician Mac Maharaj called for State institutions to be capacitated and for the African National Congress (ANC) to “put its house in order and render itself fit for purpose”, in memory of the former Minister.

Gordhan was laid to rest on Thursday, in a category 2 Special Official Funeral, after his passing in the early hours of September 13, following a period of illness.

Maharaj described Gordhan as a fearless human being.

“PG [Pravin Gordhan] was a human being vested with weaknesses and frailties like all of us, but let there be a debate about his actions, [and] let us ensure that such a debate is based on facts and evidence. We need that if our democracy is to flourish,” he said.

Maharaj said vigorous debate was the lifeblood of the ANC during the liberation struggle, adding that it was also the essence of democracy.

He thanked President Cyril Ramaphosa for offering Gordhan an Official Funeral, saying the President “read history correctly” and appreciated the relevance of the model that Gordhan was in present-day South Africa, which he said was incorruptible and driven by the goal of a South African nation at peace with itself.

He said without Gordhan’s leadership and his team at the South African Revenue Service (Sars) South Africa could have become a “banana republic governed by an autocratic regime” and a hollowed-out democracy.

Maharaj pointed to those implicated in corruption as having concocted fake intelligence to rubbish Gordhan’s identify, but he noted that despite abuse Gordhan remained steadfast.

“…but he found himself in a lonely place in the fight back against State capture with the ANC and the alliance partners. A few like Derek Hanekom stood out. Some who shared his concern stayed silent, others defended the indefensible,” he explained.

South African Communist Party general secretary (SACP) Blade Nzimande described Gordhan as a strategic thinker and skilled negotiator.

He pointed to Gordhan playing a crucial role in the Constitutional Assembly, adding that he had a gift of a “very sharp analytical mind” and attention to detail.

He explained that this helped Gordhan succeed in building a world-class institution such as Sars.

“I must say as the SACP, we honour Pravin on his role in fighting against State capture. We are proud we stood firm in the battle against State capture as the communist party, but as communists we made some mistakes by thinking that some leaders would actually lead our country, and [we] came out openly and said ‘we made a mistake’, ‘those who are capturing our country must go’, and indeed that happened,” said Nzimande.

He said Gordhan was brave, highlighting his successes in the portfolio of public enterprises.

“I do not care about what the detractors are saying, because these detractors are mostly those who benefited from State capture. He took a bankrupt SAA and a Transnet in deep trouble, a Denel whose intellectual property was stolen by the Guptas…at least we still have State-owned enterprises today. To us, the SACP, that is very important and we will always honour comrade Pravin [for that],” he said.

He noted that in memory of Gordhan the SACP had a challenge to now understand the tasks that it was faced with, and said it needed to confront the mistakes and weaknesses it had as a movement.

“…all of us, not just the ANC, Cosatu and the SACP collectively. We have to do that collectively. We also have to be intolerant of renegade behaviour within our own ranks and deal [with it] decisively as part, also, of the renewal project,” said Nzimande.