South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday announced a new finance minister after accepting the resignation of Nhlanhla Nene.
Nene reportedly asked President Ramaphosa to sack him and offered to resign. He has been under a lot of pressure recently with many asking him to resign.
This was after his testimony at the commission of inquiry into state capture. Local media reports that the finance minister admitted to attending a number of meetings with the controversial Gupta family.
Ramaphosa on Tuesday said he has accepted the resignation of Nene and has appointed former central bank governor Tito Mboweni as his replacement.
Nhlanhla Nene had apologised to South Africans for meeting the controversial Gupta family between 2009 and 2014.
He is quoted as saying that “I’m sorry, I was wrong in meeting the Guptas”.
Ramaphosa said about Nene that “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,”
The President said he is “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.”
Source: Africafeeds.com
