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Johannesburg - Former finance minister Pravin Gordhan was called a sell-out during a debate on state capture and radical economic transformation, held at the University of Johannesburg on Wednesday afternoon.
Before he started speaking, a group of students dressed in EFF colours sang: "Gordhan tell us what [President Jacob] Zuma has done".
The students were joined by another group carrying ANC flags.
Gordhan’s former deputy Mcebisi Jonas was part of the panel that debated the subject.
On several occasions during his speech, students heckled Gordhan and called him a sell-out.
Some students booed Gordhan when he delved into the topic of state capture.
"State capture, put simply, is the stealing of certain institutions in the state by a small group of people whose only intention is to put money either into their pockets in South Africa or in bank accounts in Dubai. To those of you that are booing me, means you approve of state capture," he told his audience.
As he was speaking about the role of UK-based public relations firm Bell Pottinger in state capture, some students called him a liar.
He responded by saying that those who supported Bell Pottinger should be judged.
Gordhan said some ANC politicians and people working in state-owned entities allowed racketeering and money laundering in those institutions.
He applauded Jonas for refusing to sell out the sovereignty of the country by refusing to take the Guptas' money. The country needed more people like him, he said.
"Perhaps one of the question that arises from the recent Gupta leaks, or whatever leaks you want to talk about, is a proposition I want to put to you. How many of you would accept R600 million in bribes from the Guptas? Here we have a person right in front of you who was offered a R600 million bribe and he said 'keep it'."
The Sunday Times reported last year that Ajay Gupta allegedly offered him this money, and the job of finance minister, if he would "work with us" in the R1 trillion nuclear deal.
During the question session, one student demanded that Gordhan explain his role in the decline of the country’s economy.
While responding to questions, students in EFF shirts again shouted him down.
It has emerged from emails leaked from the Gupta family that Bell Pottinger created a racially divisive media campaign to detract attention from negative publicity about Zuma and the Gupta’s business dealings.
This involved drafting media statements to discredit the South African media.
