TAKE2: We'll miss you, Tito

We were sitting at Casalinga restaurant on a particularly miserable day. All the patrons were crammed in on the patio overlooking the lawns which were deserted under the grey skies.

Late into the lunch hour the sun broke through the clouds and we watched as waiters carried a table on to the lawn followed by two king-sized leopard-skin chairs.

All eyes by now were focused on the activity when out strode an imposing figure followed by a woman in a tight fitting green outfit struggling to keep up as her high heels sank into the damp grass.

As if on stage, with us as his audience, Mboweni in his stylish suit sank back into his leopard-skin throne and lit up one of his famous cigars.

Somehow Comrade Gill Marcus in her kaftans will just not cut the same figure. Under Marcus the famous ego which became synonymous with the position of Reserve Bank governor will be lost forever.

It is this side of Mboweni, his ego and presence, his dramatics over having his photograph taken, his deep disdain for economists and journalists, that we will miss the most.

But all things have a silver lining. Marcus is known for her more consultative and inclusive approach, so us journalists will no longer have to fear the knobkerrie or the regular acidic dressing downs we had got used to over the last 10 years.