If you thought the news couldn’t get worse . . .

’TWAS the night before Christmas, when all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

For fear of the Grinch who would steal festive cheer.

Instead of a turkey, he would devour a roasted reindeer,

For Santa had been hijacked and Rudolph shot:

The Grinch gave him both barrels — all that he’d got.

Christmas was coming without a rally in sight;

The money left in droves as buyers took fright . . .

There was no one, but no one, but the Grinch to indict,

For on his gangrenous head he wore a mask of Jacob Zuma

(The Grinch indeed had a sick sense of humour) “He-he-he-he,” he said. “The economy? Who cares? It’s all but dead.”

The removal of finance minister Nhlanhla Nene could not have come at a worse time for South Africa.

Already, jittery ratings agencies have their fingers poised above the financial equivalent of a nuclear downgrade button. Nene’s sacking amid platitudes of a job well done will only unsettle fragile investor sentiment further and hasten the inevitable call to downgrade the country to dreaded junk status.

Zuma is hardly renowned for great appointments, but the choice of a third-tier, failed small-town mayor for the lofty role of finance minister illustrates his contempt not only for the markets, but for the poor, who will suffer most from market fallout.

As mayor of Merafong (Fochville and Carletonville) in Gauteng, David van Rooyen was drummed out of town by his own community and given a parliamentary job. His meteoric rise, from mayor to ANC whip on the standing committee on finance, to minister, will cause great unhappiness in the National Treasury — something it appears designed to do. The Treasury was, after all, too sensible, restrained and controlling of the national purse for Zuma’s liking.

Ignoring trusted deputy minister Mcebisi Jonas as well as finance committee chairman Yunus Carrim is a slap in the face of commitment, competence and ability.

That Van Rooyen has been elevated to managing the national chequebook will dent the optimism of even the most vocal supporters of the South Africa story, who have held that as long as the Treasury and Reserve Bank were sacrosanct, the country would survive.

When Zuma replaced mining minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi earlier this year, it caused a minor ripple. The new minister, Mosebenzi Zwane, a little-known Free State politician alleged to have dubious Gupta connections, was not regarded as a threat to our finances. Mining is hardly the cash cow it once was.

But Van Rooyen’s appointment is reckless in the extreme. Zuma has signed off on the equivalent of the nation’s economic death warrant. We have enough problems as it is. The drought increases the risk of politically destabilising food price spikes. The vulnerable rand plummeted as news of Nene’s ousting spread around the world, raising the prospect of higher inflation and rate hikes. The corporate edifice of the resources sector faces the biggest threat to solvency in a generation.

It just shows that when you think the news can’t get worse, it can.

Former Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni this week issued his most damning criticism of the economy, warning of the devastating consequences of a “junk” downgrade. The cost of borrowing would rise, and global investors would not see the country as a destination for capital.

As for Van Rooyen, he is going to have to get up to speed fast for the February budget. His hobbies — “soccer, golf, tennis, reading and hunting” — will need to take a back seat as he seeks market credibility.

Or maybe Zuma expects Donald Trump to win the US election. Then “The Donald” and Van Rooyen can bond over their love of guns, to the benefit of the beloved country.

Trump? Win the US presidential election? Well, after the events of the past few days, anything is possible.

Whitfield is worried