'It's a dangerous time': Gordhan on Zuma's return to active politics

JOHANNESBURG - Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has described the return of former President Jacob Zuma and his allies, including Tom Moyane and Nathi Nhleko, as a dangerous time for the country. 

Moyane, a former SARS commissioner, and Mhleko, a disgraced former police minister, have been labelled as state capture enablers. 

The pair are also part of Zuma's uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party's negotiating team, which has been attempting to deliberate over power-sharing talks.

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The African National Congress (ANC) went under 50% in last month’s elections, with the MK Party scoring the most votes in KwaZulu-Natal.

"It's a dangerous time."

This is how Gordhan described the return of Zuma and some of his key lieutenants, including Moyane and Nhleko.

The three make a return to active politics, as Gordhan, who earned hero status during the height of state capture, prepares to make an exit from the life of public office.

The outgoing minister questioned why people would want to take the country back to the state capture era.

"Haven't we learned as a country yet? The kind of damage that has been caused, the kind of time it takes to recover. And we haven't recovered yet."

He said this development spat in the face of all who sacrificed their lives in building this democracy. 

"What gives you the right to come along and resurface some of these people, so they can go back to the same institutions and destroy them again."

While Gordhan has been made the symbol of pushing back against state capture, he admitted that attempts to set the country’s state-owned entities right had proven to be a difficult undertaking.