A-team puts Gigaba on notice
Treasury officials are divided over whether to stay and shouldn’t be taken lightly
Newly appointed Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba has hit the treasury like a whirlwind, causing its conservative senior employees to reconsider their positions.
Gigaba fuelled feelings of insecurity by bringing an entourage of 18 people with him from the department of home affairs, including two questionable advisers, actions exacerbated by the resignation of the treasury’s “furniture”, director general Lungisa Fuzile.
Gigaba has also moved swiftly to replace his predecessor’s personal assistant with his own and is appointing his own chief of staff.
Gigaba spokesperson Mayihlome Tshwete, also from home affairs, said this is standard practice when a new minister takes over a department.
Three sources have seen home affairs official Samuel Mandiwana at the treasury and believe he will be Gigaba’s chief of staff. But Tshwete dismissed this, saying there are “two names the minister is considering for the position. A chief of staff has not yet been appointed.”
It is Gigaba’s removal of officials working in the treasury registries, who are tasked to store records and file minutes, that raised eyebrows and created concerns about “resistance towards Gigaba on a level where people service the ministry”.
Tshwete has defended this move, saying the minister must “know, trust and be comfortable with the persons he works with; there is nothing strange about Minister Gigaba bringing over his own administrative team”. He added that Gigaba has not yet “signed off anything to human resources”.
Another “serious red flag” raised by a source in the treasury is that at least one of Gigaba’s advisers, Thamsanqa Msomi, has been linked to the Guptas. Msomi is a board member of the state arms manufacturer, Denel, which is embroiled in litigation with the treasury over a contentious joint venture with the Guptas.
The Mail & Guardian reported last year that Msomi is seen to be close to the Gupta family, whom he has met.
When asked about his advisers at a press conference, Gigaba refused to reveal their names, though Tshwete tweeted them later.
It doesn’t necessarily indicate “malintent” by Gigaba, several treasury officials said. “But one rather hoped that Gigaba would first get used to the furniture before initiating significant changes. It is crucial to have a finance minister who does not rush into things and recognises the importance of a stable environment,” one of them said.
Officials at the helm of the treasury are divided over whether to stay or go. Some who have decided to “sit out the storm” have revealed a list of “lines for Gigaba to cross” that would influence their decision (See “Redflag issues filling the new finance minister’s inbox”).
Gigaba’s new colleagues in treasury describe him as smart, savvy, stubborn, a “person who absorbs [information] quickly” and a “true politician” who “loves the camera”.
Senior treasury staff have often been described as “nerdy”, “smart”, people who are “sticklers for protocol and the law” and “strict”. Whether they will get along with their new political head is a matter of national importance. Few are entirely sure they will.
One source with a harsher stance said: “Every mid-level to senior employee in treasury is highly regarded and can immediately walk right into a job in the private sector where they’ll earn a lot more than they do now. If Gigaba thinks he can threaten treasury employees on the effect of losing their jobs to do something they don’t agree with, he is in for a surprise.”