A subpoena issued by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to the Government Pensions Administration Agency has been described as a desperate attempt to prop up the prosecution of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.

Freedom Under Law and Helen Suzman Foundation said the timing suggested a “desperate‚ eleventh-hour attempt to prop up a prosecution that‚ clearly‚ was hopeless from the start”.

The subpoena‚ issued to the CEO of the Government Pensions Administration Agency on October 20‚ called on him to provide‚ among other documents‚ annexures to the SARS memorandum that is the foundation of the fraud charges against Gordhan‚ and an affidavit “explaining” the approval of past requests for early retirement.

“The subpoena was issued over a week after the NPA announced the decision to charge Minister Gordhan. The timing suggests a desperate‚ eleventh-hour attempt to prop up a prosecution that‚ clearly‚ was hopeless from the start.

“This is information the NPA should have gathered long before any decision to prosecute was made‚ and the NPA’s failure to do so underlines the irrationality and unlawfulness of its decision. This is especially so given that the information is likely to be exculpatory‚” FUL and the HSF said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Today‚ attorneys for Freedom Under Law and the Helen Suzman Foundation served a supplementary affidavit drawing the court’s attention to the subpoena and its implications‚” they added.