President Jacob Zuma should step aside and allow someone to lead the country and reset the course to fulfil the kind of aspirations that Nelson Mandela and his generation had for South Africa, former finance minister Pravin Gordhan said on Tuesday.

Gordhan told talk show host Eusebius McKaiser in a panel discussion on Mandela Day, that he had previously said it in the African National Congress forums.

He said the first democratically elected president had a sense of purpose that was non-negotiable.

"In today’s world, you must ask how many leaders do we have who have a non-negotiable purpose? Today your purpose is actually transactional. You can buy it… even for an air ticket, as well.

"For a country that has produced a Madiba – and by that I mean not just the individual, but that collective of leaders – we should be ashamed of ourselves in terms of how we are attempting to conduct ourselves in leadership terms today."

Gordhan insisted State capture is a fact.

"We must stop ducking around it… The notion of State capture is telling us that those who are responsible for bringing people to book are the very ones who are refusing to do it. They rather chase innocent people, get CEOs fired just because they stand up for things, even if they have made mistakes before."