President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Tito Mboweni as Finance Minister, having accepted Nhlanhla Nene's resignation.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Tito Mboweni, a former Reserve Bank governer and Labour Minister, as Minister of Finance. This follows Nhlanhla Nene's admission that he held several meetings with the Gupta family, who are alleged to have had a corrupt relationship with former President Jacob Zuma.
Nene delivered a letter of resignation to Ramaphosa, which the president accepted. President Ramaphosa has stated:
"It's a measure of his character and commitment to the country that he has decided to resign despite not being implicated in any wrongdoing. I am confident that Mr Mboweni will bring the leadership that is needed now. As former governor of the Reserve bank and before that as minister of labour Mr Mboweni brings with him vast experience in areas of finance, economic policy as well as governance."
Markets have been responding positively to Mboweni's appointment. One of his first tasks will be delivering the medium-term budget later this month. In the wake of the announcement of his appointment, he said to journalists:
"I think the president has just taken away my freedom."
