As ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe tried to restore order and calm and bring a halt to public spats between parts of government on Tuesday‚ state-owned arms manufacturer Denel poured fat on the fire by launching a scathing attack on the Treasury‚ accusing it of grandstanding and opportunism.

Mantashe‚ speaking after the ANC’s national working committee meeting‚ addressed the media on the disputes across government‚ ranging from the fight between the Hawks and Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan to that between Eskom and the Treausury.

He appealed to all parties to stop their public spats and said the ANC would be calling together the three ministers involved in Eskom — the Treasury‚ energy and public enterprises – to discuss Eskom matters. He also supported a move for President Jacob Zuma to call all the parties involved in the Gordhan dispute together to resolve the issues behind closed doors.

But no sooner had he said this than a fresh row erupted with an angry public statement from Denel accusing the Treasury of wasting public money by taking it to court to stop its joint venture with VR Laser Asia‚ a company owned by a close Gupta associate Salim Essa‚ reports Business Day (http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/industrials/2016/08/31/denel-fuels-row-with-attack-on-treasury)

The Treasury has refused to give permission to the venture. But last week‚ Denel chief financial officer Odwa Mhlwana said that the Department of Public Enterprises had given the nod for the venture.

This was followed by a report in the Sunday Times that cited various sources saying that the Treasury was preparing court papers to stop the transaction.

“Denel views the threat by the National Treasury to bring a court action to stop the Denel Asia joint venture as political‚ sheer opportunism and grandstanding. Such litigation will be a violation of Chapter 3 of the Constitution and Denel will vigorously oppose it‚” it said. – TMG Digital/BDlive