Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan should show leadership by meeting the Hawks and avoid causing “unnecessary” drama and putting strain on the currency, the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) said on Thursday.

The world was taking note of developments in the country and confidence in its economy would be compromised if “no one is level headed”, spokesperson Mondli Mkhize said.

The youth league wanted Gordhan to reassure investors that Treasury was being run by a law-abiding citizen who was “humble and patriotic”.

“The rand on Wednesday dropped by more than 3% against the dollar as the world heard of the fracas between the Hawks and Minister of Finance,” Mkhize said.

If the public spats continued, and the rand continued to fall, the ANCYL would ask the ANC to provide "political guidance" for the sake of stabilising the economy.

“As the ANC Youth League, we call on all those who are involved in this investigation to reduce public spats and engage in a manner that any other citizen would have been treated and responded,” Mkhize said.

The Hawks instructed Gordhan, and two former South African Revenue Service (Sars) employees - Ivan Pillay and Johann van Loggerenberg - to present themselves to their office in Pretoria on Thursday, so they could make warning statements.

The unit wanted to question Gordhan about his alleged contraventions of the National Strategic Intelligence Act and Public Finance Management Act. These related to his approval of Sars commissioner Pillay's early retirement in 2010, and to the alleged creation of an intelligence unit within Sars.

In a statement on Wednesday, Gordhan said he had taken legal advice and had no obligation to present himself to the Hawks. He said he should be left to do his job in a difficult economic environment.

Gordhan was Sars commissioner between 1999 and 2009. During this period, a so-called "rogue unit" was allegedly established, which was allegedly involved in illegal intelligence gathering.