The SAJBD joins the people of South Africa in paying tribute to the late Dr Pravin Gordhan. We mourn the loss of this outstanding public servant, who throughout his long and varied career combined exceptional skill and acumen with the utmost personal integrity.
Dr Gordhan held many important positions over the decades. However, it is for his role as Finance Minister from 2009 to 2014 and again from 2015 to 2017 that he will perhaps be best remembered. During these difficult years of ‘State Capture’, he became the public face of the fight-back against the corruption then running rampant at the highest levels of government and public services. In fighting that battle, he displayed throughout the courage, resilience and unswerving integrity that had been his hallmark throughout his political career, both as a stalwart member of the anti-apartheid movement and in the various senior leadership positions he held after the transition to democracy.
Pravin Gordhan will also be remembered as a warm friend of the Jewish community, who over the years met frequently with the leadership of the SAJBD and attended and spoke at a number of important communal events.
The SAJBD mourns the passing of this great South African extends its sincerest condolences to the Gordhan family.
