Former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas, who was controversially fired from the position by former President Jacob Zuma, will join MTN Group as a nonexecutive director on 1 June, the Johannesburg-headquartered mobile telecommunications provider said on Monday before markets opened.
Jonas, 58, who has claimed he was offered the job of finance minister by Gupta brother Ajay Gupta in exchange for a R600m bribe, is seen as close to new President Cyril Ramaphosa. He spurned the Gupta offer. He was deputy finance minister between 2014 and 2017.
A former chairman and nonexecutive director of the Public Investment Corp, Jonas has also served as provincial minister of finance in the Eastern Cape, where also served as economic development, environmental affairs & tourism minister. He is currently one of four independent “presidential investment envoys”, appointed by Ramaphosa to attract investment to South Africa.
At the same time, MTN Group has appointed Swazi Tshabalala as a nonexecutive director, also from 1 June.
Tshabalala, who has an MBA and who was part of the Oxford Fintech Programme, has 20 years of experience in finance, risk management, treasury and general management. Her experience includes work in state-owned enterprises and the private sector, and a diversity of sectors, including transportation and logistics, infrastructure and financial services.
She is currently a nonexecutive director of Tiger Brands and South African Airways. Until recently, she was a nonexecutive director of Standard Bank and the CSIR. — (c) 2018 NewsCentral Media