TITO’S TWITTER TIMELINE
On Twitter and Facebook Tito Mboweni is far more than the finance minister. He is “the
Duke of the Duchy of Magoebaskloof”; an influencer for Lucky Star, garlic and chilli; and the marketing department for his home province of Limpopo and the country of
Rwanda.
Sometimes, however, his social media antics cause a diplomatic row, or he contradicts his cabinet colleagues. And there was that one time he leaked the budget deficit …
March 12 2020
“I woke up this morning and found this message: ‘Stop tweeting.’ Hayibo! So I have been muzzled. I will await the unbanning order before posting original tweets. But I will retweet, like or post academic or news items. Pity.”
May 5 2020
“Not so long ago, I was a free man, no political constraints. Then I agreed, voluntarily, to join government. Tjoooo! Free but not free! You have to obey the majority/collective decisions! Sometimes it feels like swallowing a rock!”
June 20 2020: Early that Saturday morning, ahead of the tabling of the supplementary budget, Mboweni takes to Facebook and shares part of a presentation that reveals the National Treasury is expecting a budget deficit of more than 14%. He likens the yawning deficit to the mouth of a hippopotamus, saying that “the herculean task is how to close the mouth of
the hippopotamus”, as Business Day reported.
August 23 2020:
“Presidents in Africa must stop this nonsense of waking up in the morning and fire a central bank governor! You cannot do that. This is not some fiefdom of yours! Your personal property?! No!”
This tweet followed Zambian President Edgar Lungu’s sacking of his central bank governor, Denny Kalyalya. For this, Mboweni was duly reprimanded by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
August 30 2020
“There is a malicious rumour that I have resigned! It is untrue. I am firmly here as minster of finance. We have work to do. So much to do: fix our economy. No time for pettiness.”
September 25 2020
“At the government level the most URGENT task is to protect the fiscal framework, protect the integrity of the National Treasury, the SA Reserve Bank and the fight against CORRUPTION. Instil investor confidence! Implement structural economic reforms. That’s what you do.”
September 28 2020:
“Directorsgeneral. My view is that to manage this runaway wage and salary system in the public service and entities: reset a new system altogether. The CEOs and heads must be called DGs. Now THEREFORE they cannot earn more than the DG of the National Treasury, Presidency and DPSA.”
October 4 2020
“It has been proven again and again throughout the ages that politics is not for the weak! Same today in SA and everywhere. If you cannot stand the heat, get out of the political kitchen. I am standing firm here! Cooking, hot but cool!! Going nowhere. Ja!! A ndzi FAMBI!”
November 22 2020
“OK. What should we do on SAA?” he asks Twitter – a subject that he’s known to have a strong stance on. “OK. Do we need a national airline? Maybe that’s the question? Is it?”
He delves deeper before settling into more tweets about market forces and how you harvest in years to come as you invest now.
“If this is not heard, I give up! On my grave, ‘Here is a man who tried and failed to explain market economics. May His Soul Rest In Eternal Peace.’”
November 23 2020
“People who are afraid of public debate must stay away from politics. Why should a question on SAA get so many people hot under the collar? Come on. Grow up!! This is not a Stalinist society. People must be free to express their democratic views. Me too!”