Turmoil after leader fires minister
PRETORIA, South Africa — South Africa faced political and financial turmoil Friday after President Jacob Zuma fired the 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 of one of Africa’s biggest economies and a bulwark against perceived efforts to raid state coffers for personal gain.
The reshuffle of 10 of the country’s 35 ministers 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.
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 the public do? Organize. Organize.”
Scandals surrounding Zuma include more than $20 million in state spending on his private home — Zuma paid back some funds after the country’s top court ruled against him — and the president’s links to the Guptas, an Indian immigrant family accused of trying to influence past Cabinet appointments.