Backlash after Zuma sacks Finance minister

South African opposition Democratic Alliance party has described the sacking of Finance minister and his deputy as an “act of complete state capture”.

President Jacob Zuma sacked Mr Pravin Gordhan and his Mcebisi Jonas, replacing them with the Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba and Sfiso Buthelezi respectively.

The latest Cabinet reshuffle is President Zuma’s biggest reshuffle since 2009.

There's a serious backlash over the reshuffling of Cabinet.

Led the motion

The president fired five ministers, including Mr Derek Hanekom of Tourism, who led the motion in November last year during a meeting of the African National Congress (ANC) national executive committee (NEC) for the president to be recalled.

For the first time, ANC Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe, publicly said President Zuma did not consult them. 

The Rand has been on a free-fall following the sacking of Mr Gordhan.

Alliance partner

Early in the week, Mr Gordhan and Mr Jonas were ordered to cancel meetings with investors in the UK and the US by the president.

President Zuma then told the ANC top six members and its tripartite alliance partner, the South African Communist Party (SACP), that he intended to remove Mr Gordhan because he was “blocking his policies”.

Mr Gordhan has been a vocal opponent of President Zuma’s family friends, the Guptas, and was embroiled in three ongoing court cases with the family's companies.

“The President has once again shown that he has no interest in our beloved country’s future – or the nine million South Africans who are unemployed. He has bowed to the whims of those who are determined to enrich themselves at the expense of the poor and jobless,” Mr Maimane said.

DA’s David Maynier said the appointment of Mr Gigaba, President Zuma’s close ally, “means that National Treasury is now firmly under the political control of President Jacob Zuma.”

The CEO of AfriForum, an NGO protecting the rights of minorities, Mr Kallie Kriel, said it was a shame that the ANC’s squabbling had gone to an extent that the president was prepared to sacrifice the country’s economy and the value of the rand, simply to settle scores.

Faces downgrading

“The whole country is harmed and faces downgrading by grading agencies – all to serve the interests of one man, Jacob Zuma,” Mr Kriel said.

Another opposition leader, Mr Bantu Holomisa of the United Democratic Movement (UDM), said it would be sad if President Zuma was doing the reshuffle “to get a licence to loot”.

“Unfortunately for Gigaba and his deputy, they will have to hit the ground running. People will be judging them to see how they react to pressure from the banks and Guptas,” he said.

The tough task

Political analyst Daniel Silke said the new Finance minister will have the tough task of reassuring credit rating agencies, which were very unnerved by the axing of Mr Gordhan and Mr Jonas.

“Gigaba’s appointment is all about having a compliant Finance ministry,” said Mr Silke.

The other ministers who lost their jobs are Mr Dipuo Peters (Transport), Ms Tina Joemat-Pettersson (Energy) and Mr Ngoako Ramatlhodi (Public Service and Administration).