Finance minister Pravin Gordhan said on Friday there is a group of people that are not interested in South Africa’s economic stability and who seemingly want to disrupt institutions and destroy reputations.

In a day of high drama, in which it was revealed that Gordhan threatened to resign days before he was to deliver his budget speech, the minister issued an impassioned statement calling for calm and confidence in South Africa.

He said there is a group of people who are not interested in the economic stability of the country and the welfare of its people. “It seems they are interested in disrupting institutions and destroying reputations.”

Gordhan said over the past few weeks, he had worked with the national treasury to deliver a budget that “reinforces South Africa’s fiscal credibility and outlines the measures we will take to improve economic growth and tackle our challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment”.

Gordhan was reappointed finance minister in an equally turbulent period in December when President Jacob Zuma replaced the respected Nhlanhla Nene with the little-known Des van Rooyen, only to replace him four days later with Gordhan. The incident sent the markets reeling, wiping over R150bn off the JSE and pushing the rand into free fall.

Calm has returned since Gordhan’s recall to his old job, and on Wednesday he delivered a national budget that speaks to South Africa’s economic challenges.

Gordhan said on Friday that in the current climate of uncertainty in the global and domestic economy, it is necessary to strengthen business and investor confidence so that the poor do not suffer as a result of “our failure to act coherently in matters of national interest, as business, labour and government”.

Gordhan said he wants to publicly state his version of events in relation to a letter he received from the Hawks on Thursday, 18 February 2016.

The Hawks asked him to answer three pages of questions, keep the letter confidential and not interfere with “state witnesses”. They did not indicate who the witnesses were. “I believe this was meant to intimidate and distract us from the work that we had to do to prepare the 2016 budget.”

Gordhan said he is prepared to take whatever legal action necessary to protect himself and the national treasury from any elements seeking to discredit him, the institution and its integrity.