The use criminal prosecutions against targeted individuals in South Africa was a major cause for concern, renowned human rights activist Advocate George Bizos said on Thursday.

“We’re concerned because people are being unjustly involved in criminal prosecutions which we know are not valid,” said Bizos as he addressed reporters at the Pretoria central offices of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), better known as the Hawks, where former South African Revenue Services officials Ivan Pillay and Johann van Loggerenberg presented themselves.

“We’re concerned about the future of justice and law in South Africa. (Retired Constitutional Court) Judge Johann Kriegler and I, and many others like the Helen Suzman Foundation fought apartheid for many years. We’re concerned at the events of the past that are being repeated now.”

Bizos said he had joined the protests at the Hawks office to show support for Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan who was part of the probe by the Hawks.

“We stand by the minister of finance (Gordhan). We hope that the people of South Africa will also stand by him and this prosecution will need nipped in the bud,” said Bizos.

Civil society organisations led a protest at the Hawks offices on Thursday morning as Pillay and Van Loggerenberg entered the police premises.

Pillay and Van Loggerenberg entered the Hawks building along Visagie Street in Pretoria central before 9am, after greeting activists, including Mark Heywood of public interest law centre Section 27, Kriegler, Bizos, and Francis Antonie, director of the Helen Suzman Foundation.

The pair did not speak to the huge scrum of journalists awaiting at the entrance. Members of the Right2Know campaign were singing close-by. Members of interest group AfriForum also arrived a short while later.

It emerged on Wednesday that Gordhan, also served with summons to pitch at the Hawks office and sign a warning statement, would not be complying.

The Hawks letter sent to Gordhan revealed he is facing three criminal charges, including allegations that he set up an investigation unit within the South African Revenue Service (SARS), which gathered, collected and evaluated intelligence.

Gordhan, who said on Wednesday that he would ignore the Hawks summon, said he had already provided them with a full explanation to the charges and has denied any and all wrongdoing.

The stand-off has seen the rand weaken significantly and raised fears of a backlash from international rating agencies.

Gordhan, Pillay and Van Loggerenberg were instructed on Monday to report to the Hawks on Thursday to receive warning statements — a step that could precede arrest — on allegations of contravention of two intelligence laws, and in Pillay’s case, of the Public Finance Management Act.

On Wednesday, Gordhan asked to be given space to do his job as investigators from the unit again targeted him and former revenue service colleagues in a move that hammered the rand.

In a statement issued by National Treasury, Gordhan said he had been advised by his lawyers that allegations made against him by the Hawks in a letter sent to him on Monday were “wholly unfounded on any version of events”.

The finance minister said he would not be available to meet the Hawks at 2pm on Thursday as requested.

Gordhan, however, said he would be prepared to assist a “bona fide” investigation by the Hawks to the best of his ability.

“I have a job to do in a difficult economic environment and serve South Africa as best I can. Let me do my job,” said Gordhan.

The allegations put to Pillay by the Hawks include that he had colluded with Oupa Magashule, who succeeded Gordhan as the head of the revenue service, to let the state bankroll his early retirement at 56 and thereafter irregularly secure a five-year contract as a consultant. The law only allows for a three-year contract, according to documents seen by the African News Agency.

The letter sent to Pillay on Monday claims that he signed an agreement to serve in an acting capacity while knowing that the minister had granted approval only for a three-year term.

The allegations against Gordhan and his ex-colleagues have returned with renewed intensity since his re-appointment to the finance portfolio late last year after President Jacob Zuma had fired Nhlanhla Nene and briefly replaced him with Des van Rooyen, triggering a financial market crisis.