Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane met with public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan for at least two hours on Wednesday morning.
The night before the meeting, Mkhwebane’s office said it would not be commenting on the meeting – and Gordhan’s spokesman, Adrian Lackay, said on Wednesday that it would be “inappropriate” to talk about what had happened in the meeting.
Gordhan was subpoenaed by Mkhwebane last month. She is investigating a complaint by presidency staffer Lebogang Hoveka in November 2016 that Gordhan approving Ivan Pillay’s retirement package and later allowing him to be re-employed by the South African Revenue Service (Sars) in 2010 was irregular.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) dropped the criminal investigation and criminal charges in October 2017.
All Lackay was prepared to say was that it was Gordhan’s “view” that the 2016 complaint against him was “malicious” and that the minister, as head of treasury and as minister of finance in 2010, was “completely transparent” and that he “consulted extensively” and “engaged extensively across government to obtain legal advice” regarding Pillay’s retirement.
“Engagements with the public protector will continue,” he said via a text message.