Opposition party calls for parliamentary debate around Gordhan ‘witch-hunt’

Finance minister, Pravin Gordhan, says the charges against him are “unfounded”.

Amid fears of another downgrade to South Africa's global credit rating, the country’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), has called for a parliamentary debate into what it is calling a "witch-hunt" against the Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan.

"I have today submitted an urgent request to the speaker of the National Assembly on the Zuma-mandated witch-hunt against finance minister Pravin Gordhan," DA leader Mmusi Maimane said in a statement issued yesterday (Thursday).

Former finance minister, Trevor Manuel, said on Wednesday the economy would be "destroyed" if Zuma fired Gordhan.