31st March, 2017
The Secretary-General of the African National Congress (ANC), Gwede Mantashe, has said that the party was unhappy with President Jacob Zuma’s decision to fire Pravin Gordhan as finance minister.
Mantashe, a key figure in the ruling ANC, told Talk Radio 702 on Friday: “we were given a list that was complete, and in my own view as a secretary I felt like this list has been developed somewhere else and was given to us to legitimise it.
“The process made me a little bit jittery and uncomfortable,” Mantashe, who is the second most powerful individual in the ANC after Zuma”.
Zuma appointed Malusi Gigaba as new finance minister, replacing Gordhan who was sacked in a cabinet reshuffle.
In a statement from the president’s office just after midnight on Thursday, Zuma said that Sfiso Buthelezi was appointed Deputy Finance Minister replacing Mcebisi Jonas.
“I have directed the new ministers and deputy ministers to work tirelessly with their colleagues to bring about radical socioeconomic transformation and to ensure that the promise of a better life for the poor and the working class becomes a reality,” Zuma said.
The new ministers and their deputies will be sworn in at 1600 GMT on Friday.