South African finance minister issued with summons
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Summon
Pretoria, Oct. 11, 2016 (Reuters/NAN) South African prosecutors on Tuesday issued Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan with a formal summons in relation to the establishment of a tax department investigation unit a decade ago, the report said.
According to the summon, the action has sent the rand reeling.
The currency fell as much as 3 per cent when prosecutor Shaun Abrahams made his first announcement at a news conference.
The currency then extended its falls, trading at 14.2950 against the dollar at 08:33 a.m., a 3.5 per cent decline.
Gordhan, who is highly respected by financial markets, has painted the allegations about his role in establishing the special tax unit as “political mischief”.
He said that the prosecution officials delivered a summons to his house on Tuesday morning.
He was not at home at the time, he told reporters, adding that his lawyers would be issuing a statement shortly.
Abrahams denied any mischief in the handling of the case, saying the surveillance unit was set up in a “very strange manner” and had not been cleared by the national intelligence services.
In a latest development, the state prosecutor denied that there was no “political mischief” behind an investigation into Gordhan’s role in the establishment of a tax department surveillance unit a decade ago. (Reuters/NAN)
(Edited by Damilola Oyewole/Julius Enehikhuere)