‘Known quantity’ Mboweni welcomed, if not necessarily warmly, as fifth finance minister in three years

Former finance minister Nhanhla Nene is understood to be the first ANC Cabinet minister to decide to fall on his sword and resign. That happened on Tuesday morning, in an official letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa, who accepted it in the “interest of clean governance”, after days of criticism and calls for Nene to resign or be fired for lying over meeting the Guptas.

It was a very different scenario to that of 23 September 2008 when then finance minister Trevor Manuel resigned alongside 10 ministers and three deputy ministers after then president Thabo Mbeki resigned following the ANC’s recall of him.

Many ministers then indicated that they believed there had been no other option because ministers served at the pleasure of the president, according to the Constitution. These ministerial resignations were effectively temporary as most, though not all, returned to work in Cabinet the moment the caretaker president had been appointed two days later.

“It is a measure of Nhlanhla Nene’s character and his commitment to the national interest that he has taken the decision to resign in the wake of errors of judgement, even though he has not been implicated in any acts of wrongdoing himself,” said Ramaphosa in first announcing he had accepted Nene’s resignation, and his decision to appoint Tito Mboweni as the new finance minister.

The former labour minister in the Mandela administration and South African Reserve Bank governor for a decade to November 2009, is a known to the markets – a key factor, given the headwinds South Africa has faced for some time amid international criticism of governing ANC instability and policy uncertainty.

Intellidex analyst Peter Attard Montalto told Daily Maverick:

“Mboweni will have the force of personality in government to re-establish National Treasury to a place it has not been in for some time, but this may cause some political headaches.

Some of his macro views have shifted over the years, and that would have to be watched, he said.

“Ultimately, the true test is if he will enable and defend National Treasury staff and in that we think he will be successful in this period of increasing economic populism.”

The political reaction was swift – and welcoming, if not necessarily warmly so.

EFF national spokesperson and MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi welcomed Ramaphosa’s decision “to remove Nhlanhla Nene from the position of Minister of Finance following his unethical conduct of lying and misleading the public about his relations with the Gupta criminal syndicate”.

The EFF called on the president to apply the same principle to others in his Cabinet such as Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba, Communications Minister Nomvula Mokonyane and Minister for Women Bathabile Dlamini, who had demonstrated “the same disregard of ethical conduct shown by Nene, and like Nene they too have undermined Parliament’s accountability mechanisms”.

Mboweni, the EFF said in its statement, had to “prioritise the interests of the people of South Africa, in particular the poor black South Africans…” and maintain the highest standards of integrity and ethical conduct.

The DA, which had also called for Nene to resign or be sacked, welcomed Tuesday’s developments.

DA finance spokesperson and MP David Maynier said that given Mboweni’s experience, he had “the advantage of being able to hit the ground running and is, at least, known to market participants, ratings agencies and international financial institutions…”

However, Maynier in his statement added that there were some concerns that should be clarified at the latest during the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS).

“During the years that he was out in the political cold, he often came over on social media, at least, as a little looney posting content that seemed to be at odds with government policy.”

IFP national spokesperson and MP Mkhuleko Hlengwa in a statement said the change had come “when our economy more than ever needs capable, able and stable leadership”.

He experessed concern that Ramaphosa did not take this opportunity to fire Dlamini and Gigaba.

“We await an announcement on the abovementioned Ministers in due course,” said Hlengwa.

“We certainly hope that more ministers within the president’s Cabinet will submit themselves before the (Zondo) inquiry if they have met with Gupta family and how their meetings may have had an effect on government policy, plans or spending.”

“Now Nene’s prosecution should set the standard for the action taken against other government officials who are implicated in State Capture,” Groenewald said.