Tito Mboweni rises from the ashes
Ramaphosa accepts Nene’s resignation
THE surprise elevation of Tito Mboweni from the political wilderness to the hottest seat in the cabinet has been welcomed by the markets (see Business Report) and by opposition parties.
Nhlanhla Nene submitted a letter of resignation as finance minister to Ramaphosa yesterday, requesting to be relieved of the position, Ramaphosa told a press briefing.
“After due consideration of the circumstances surrounding this matter, and in the interests of good governance, I have decided to accept his resignation. During his tenure as minister of finance, Mr Nene served the people and government of South Africa with diligence and ability. Under difficult circumstances and often under great pressure, he consistently defended the cause of proper financial management and clean governance,” said Ramaphosa.
“It is a measure of his character and his commitment to the national interest that he has taken this decision to resign in the wake of errors of judgment, even though he has not been implicated in acts of wrongdoing. I wish to take this opportunity to thank him for his service to the nation,” said Ramaphosa.
Nene stepped down after mounting criticism after he issued an apology to South Africans for initially denying, and then owning up to the fact that he had met the Gupta family at their Joburg home on a few occasions instead of at his office. His resignation comes less than a week after he told the Commission into State Capture he had refused to sign the nuclear deal despite mounting pressure from then president Jacob Zuma and his cabinet colleagues.
Ramaphosa said: “It is critical that the commission has the means and opportunity to effectively fulfil its mandate. In this process, no person should be above scrutiny, and all relevant and credible accusations of wrongdoing should be thoroughly investigated. It is incumbent upon any person who may have knowledge of any of the matters within the commission’s mandate to provide that information to the commission, to do so honestly and to do so fully.”
Mboweni’s first task as finance minister is his cabinet meeting today, where he was expected to deal with issues of the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement. He will deliver it in Parliament in two weeks’ time.
“As former governor of the South African Reserve Bank and, before that, as minister of labour, Mr Mboweni brings to this position vast experience in the areas of finance, economic policy and governance.
“Mr Mboweni takes on this responsibility at a critical moment for our economy, as we intensify co-operation among all social partners to increase investment, accelerate growth and create jobs on a substantial scale,” said Ramaphosa.
Political parties were concerned that this was the fifth finance minister in three years.
The EFF urged Mboweni to prioritise the plight of the poor. It said it welcomed Nene’s departure as he had breached his oath of office. It said the same action must be taken against ministers who flouted the law.
The IFP’s Mkhuleko Hlengwa said Mboweni had a role to play in fixing the economy. Hlengwa said the fact that there had been five finance ministers in three years showed the ANC was floundering in providing stable governance and leadership.
The National Freedom Party’s Nhlanhla Khubisa said Mboweni was the right person for the job.
The DA said Mboweni must fix the economy. “With his experience, the new minister will have the advantage of being able to hit the ground running and is, at least, known to market participants, rating agencies and international financial institutions, who closely follow events in South Africa,” said the DA’s David Maynier.
HOW ironic that the one who stood fast against state capture against overwhelming odds should be the one to go.
Nhlanhla Nene, lest we forget, saved us from a trillion-rand-plus debt which our great-grandchildren would have had to pay off.
He defied Jacob Zuma and the Guptas, so much so that his deputy, Mcebisi Jonas, testified under oath at the State Capture Commission that the Guptas told him that Nene was to be replaced and offered him R600m to take the job. How lucrative it would’ve been for Nene to have played ball.
Let us also not forget that Jonas also testified under oath that the Guptas threatened, in Zuma’s son Duduzane’s presence, to kill him if he told of the offer. Perhaps Nene, too, feared that kind of fatal retribution from the state capturers.
For, clearly, if he was so solid against the Guptas’ capture of the state, his visits to their compound may have been to string them along while he found out as much as possible about what they were up to.
Jonas did the same thing. And when Jonas reported the shocking offer of R600m to Nene, and that he was to be shafted – on that balcony at Nene’s office – Nene told him not to quit. Why?
Under the circumstances it is a tragedy that Nene could not initially come clean on his meetings at that notorious Saxonwold shebeen.
The whole truth will surely come out one day, as the truth always does.
It is further ironic that the only one, so far, to say under oath that Zuma had lied when the then president shafted him and offered him the BRICS Bank job, which wasn’t his to offer, should be tripped up by a lie.