Former Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Tuesday that he will be voting with his conscience during a vote of no confidence against President Jacob Zuma on August 8.

Speaking to media at the Conference for the Future of South Africa, organised by civil society organisations Save South Africa and the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, Gordhan said he was waiting to see whether National Assembly speaker Baleka Mbete decided on a secret ballot.

“Let's see what the speaker decides on the question of the secret ballot and we’ll take our cue on the 8 August from some of those decisions, but I will vote with my conscience,” said Gordhan.

Meanwhile, he acknowledged that the work being done by civil society organisations, in this case on Mandela Day, was extremely important for the future of democracy and South Africans and pointed out that it was the day of celebration and reaffirmation of the values Mandela stood for, and an important time to reflect on the progress made, but to also reflect on what needed to be done to further the country.

He went on to state that corruption in business, government and civil society was a cancer that South Africans needed to be mindful of and that they needed to fight.

MONOPOLY ON CORRUPTION?
State capture, the most conspicuous form of corrupt practice at the moment, was a serious issue in South Africa, as significant amounts of money, essentially contributed by or borrowed in the name of the South African taxpayer, was being filtered away for the benefit of a handful of foreigners and local South Africans, Gordhan said.

“Is that fair to the seven-million young people who are walking the street, and the majority of workers who earn less than R3 700 a month and to those who still don’t have roads to travel on, market places to go to and other forms of infrastructure in rural and informal settlements?

“No. That money should be used to improve the lives of South Africans. And today is an important day in which all of us can say we want to get South Africa on the right road again and build on the successes we have had because we’ve done wonderfully well in the last 20 years,” encouraged Gordhan.