South Africa: Indian-origin minister’s sacking sets off turmoil

SOUTH AFRICA faced turmoil Friday after President Jacob Zuma fired the Indian-origin finance minister in a Cabinet reshuffle, intensifying a rift in the party that took power after the 1994 end of white minority rule as well as concerns about corruption at top levels of government.

The currency slipped, and people protested outside parliament and the national treasury against the dismissal of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, the widely respected steward the economies and a bulwark against perceived efforts to raid state coffers for personal gain.

The reshuffle of 10 of the country’s 35 ministers was announced after midnight in a move that likely was designed to soften negative impact on markets but also deepened intrigue and shock in South Africa, whose pride in its democratic credentials, forged in the struggle against apartheid, has been diminished over the years by scandals around Zuma.

“South Africa is not for sale,’’ said Gordhan, denouncing any graft in government as well as murky allegations that he had been conspiring against the nation during London meetings that were meant to encourage investment in South Africa. He was abruptly called back from those meetings earlier this week.

At a news conference after his dismissal, Gordhan urged South Africans worried about the direction of their country to draw on past protest experience during white rule, saying: “What should thepublicdo?organise.organise.”

The departure of Gordhan exposed tensions within the ruling ANC party, which lost control of key metropolitan areas in local elections last year, partly because of dissatisfaction with Zuma.

While the party’s reputation as the main movement against apartheid has been tainted, it is still seen as the front-runner ahead of country’s general elections in 2019.