TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      Telkom muscles into banks’ turf with business loans

      18 August 2022

      Sarb tells banks they should work with crypto exchanges

      18 August 2022

      iPhone 14 launch date targeted for 7 September

      18 August 2022

      Icasa moves to license more broadband spectrum

      17 August 2022

      Eskom to impose more load shedding

      17 August 2022
    • World

      China blasts US over ‘discriminatory’ Chips Act

      18 August 2022

      Tencent reports first-ever sales decline

      17 August 2022

      Chip makers are flashing a big warning for the global economy

      17 August 2022

      Semiconductor boom turns to bust

      16 August 2022

      Tencent plans to offload R400-billion Meituan stake: sources

      16 August 2022
    • In-depth

      Are you a chronic procrastinator? Read this!

      18 August 2022

      African unicorn Flutterwave battles fires on multiple fronts

      11 August 2022

      The length of Earth’s days has been increasing – and no one knows why

      7 August 2022

      As Facebook fades, the Mad Men of advertising stage a comeback

      2 August 2022

      Crypto breaks the rules. That’s the point

      27 July 2022
    • Podcasts

      Qush on infosec: why prevention is always better than cure

      11 August 2022

      e4’s Adri Führi on encouraging more women into tech careers

      10 August 2022

      How South Africa can woo more women into tech

      4 August 2022

      Book and check-in via WhatsApp? FlySafair is on it

      28 July 2022

      Interview: Why Dell’s next-gen PowerEdge servers change the game

      28 July 2022
    • Opinion

      No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

      11 July 2022

      Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

      8 July 2022

      South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

      4 July 2022

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Africa Data Centres
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»News»Godongwana faces uphill battle to revive ailing economy

    Godongwana faces uphill battle to revive ailing economy

    News By Agency Staff6 August 2021
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    New finance minister Enoch Godongwana. Image: Mondi Group

    President Cyril Ramaphosa announced 10 changes to his cabinet, including the appointment of close political ally Enoch Godongwana as his new finance minister.

    Godongwana succeeds Tito Mboweni, who had held the post since 2018 and was a strong proponent of reining in the government’s debt and wage bill. The new finance chief has been an advocate of investor-friendly policies, and cautioned against proposals by the ANC to nationalise the central bank and change the constitution to make it easier to seize land without compensation.

    Godongwana is well known by local and international investors and has been proactive in seeking to water down populist policies advocated by Ramaphosa’s predecessor, Jacob Zuma, said Gina Schoeman, an economist at Citibank South Africa.

    The choice of Enoch Godongwana is not a bad choice at all… He will want not fiscal policy to be the end of Cyril Ramaphosa

    “The choice of Enoch Godongwana is not a bad choice at all,” she said. “I know, for sure that if anything, Enoch Godongwana will want not fiscal policy to be the end of Cyril Ramaphosa.”

    But Godongana will have his work cut out for him.

    The economy contracted the most in a century last year after the government imposed stop-start lockdowns to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. It suffered another setback last month when deadly riots left 354 people dead and further dented already fragile business confidence.

    Scandal

    Godongwana, 64, holds a master’s degree in financial economics from the University of London and served as deputy public enterprises minister from 2009 to 2010, when he became deputy economic development minister.

    He quit that post in January 2012, after he and his wife were embroiled in a scandal involving the alleged misappropriation of funds from the South African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union pension fund. While he denied any wrongdoing, he offered to repay some of the money.

    The rand plummeted at much as 2.5% after Ramaphosa announced Mboweni’s resignation late on Thursday but later pared the decline after his replacement was announced.

    Former finance minister Tito Mboweni. Image: GCIS

    “It would be entirely wrong to think that fiscal discipline might be put at risk” by Godongwana’s appointment, said Razia Khan, chief economist for Africa and the Middle East at Standard Chartered Bank. “There is a strong team at the treasury and Godongwana represents continuity and stability. His strength will lie in his ability to achieve a stronger consensus for reforms.”

    Ramaphosa also fired his defence minister and announced that the state security agency would be brought under the control of the presidency in the wake of the violent protests. The president last week said the so-called security cluster was ill-prepared for the violence.

    The changes to the leadership of the security portfolios were decisive, while “fresh blood” was needed at the finance ministry, said Susan Booysen, director of research at the Johannesburg-based Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection.

    Mboweni has “really not been showing much enthusiasm”, she said. “Godongwana will really have to prove himself but we know he is a very loyal Ramaphosa ally. He knows that there are very, very urgent needs. The ANC’s credibility depends on getting its economic policy right.”  — Reported by Prinesha Naidoo and Amogelang Mbatha, (c) 2021 Bloomberg LP

    Now read: Khumbudzo Ntshavheni is the new communications minister

    Citibank Cyril Ramaphosa Enoch Godongwana Gina Schoeman Jacob Zuma Razia Khan Tito Mboweni top
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleHow Sean Sanders is building Revix into a crypto powerhouse
    Next Article Apple confirms it will scan iPhones for child abuse material

    Related Posts

    Telkom muscles into banks’ turf with business loans

    18 August 2022

    Sarb tells banks they should work with crypto exchanges

    18 August 2022

    Companies are drowning in data – but solutions are at hand

    18 August 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Companies are drowning in data – but solutions are at hand

    18 August 2022

    Top cybersecurity challenge is inadequate identification of key risks

    17 August 2022

    Acrobat Sign and Microsoft accelerate digital transformation

    17 August 2022
    Opinion

    No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

    11 July 2022

    Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

    8 July 2022

    South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

    4 July 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.