Tito Mboweni

Is Tito Mboweni’s resignation as chairman of AngloGold Ashanti, ostensibly “as a result of his increasing portfolio of professional commitments”, a sign of preparation for another stint in the engine room of the country’s economy?

If there is the slightest hint of truth in the speculation that Pravin Gordhan plans to retire as finance minister, then who would make a better replacement than Mboweni? Gordhan can leave the job he was appointed to by President Jacob Zuma five years ago with his head held high.

The economy on his watch has merely staggered and stagnated in the wake of the global financial crisis, which was just warming up when he took the job after an outstanding run by Trevor Manuel.

But since then the deficit has edged upwards as the balance of trade has sagged and the volatile rand, now in downward mode, looks unlikely to recover its former strength any time soon.

The country may indeed be a better place than it was in the bad, bad days before 1994 but the signs are that the next few years, especially with the current leadership in place, just promises to be more of the same, with the economy – saddled now with rising interest rates – struggling to reach 4 percent growth by 2018.

Mboweni, who started out as a socialist looking after labour legislation in the first Mandela cabinet, was shuffled off in 1999 to bring the Reserve Bank into the light. For 10 years the bankers’ world of finely tailored pin-stripe suits, expensive whiskey, fly-fishing and inflation-beating conservative fiscal stances seemed to fit him like a glove.

Mboweni has been an international adviser of Goldman Sachs International since June 2010.

If Zuma does find himself casting about for a new finance minister he would be hard put to find a better CV. Edited by Peter DeIonno. With contributions from Ann Crotty, Roy Cokayne and Peter DeIonno.