Dr Silas Ramaite (NPA website)
Last week Wednesday, South Africa received news that President Jacob Zuma had appointed a new finance minister, David van Rooyen. But while we were still reeling from Nhlanhla Nene’s axing we learned that Van Rooyen was out, too, replaced after only four days in the job by Nene’s predecessor, Pravin Gordhan.
Then we heard that government had approved the controversial nuclear procurement programme, which has drawn speculation about corruption after Russia said it had already struck a deal with South Africa.
So what does the new-old finance minister mean for the country’s nuclear deal? And was Nene fired for not allowing it, or for something else? Insiders are reported to have confirmed Nene’s shuffle out of finance was due to an urgent restructuring deal in the South African Airways-Airbus deal. The deadline for the deal is December 21. Is SAA chair Dudu Myeni behind the parastatal board’s decision not to implement the so-called swap transaction as instructed?
Join the amaBhungane reporters in our first Google Hangout at midday on Tuesday as we seek to answer these questions and others.
If you want your questions answered or have a comment to make, tweet us @amabhungane with the hashtag #amaBhang. We’ll collate your questions and pitch them to our seasoned journalists.
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Finally, don’t forget to join us on Tuesday to watch our live conversation.