Pravin Gordhan was appointed as South Africa’s finance minister on May 10 2009. Richard Lapper, the FT’s Johannesburg correspondent, interviewed the former head of South Africa’s tax agency in his offices in Pretoria two days later. This is the transcript of the interview.

Financial Times: Will there be any change to the Treasury? Is there going to be a new division and allocation of economic responsibilities that will affect the way you work?