Gaye Davis, Rehana Roussouw and Madeleine Wackernagel
SOUTH Africa got its first black finance minister late on Thursday — in the person of Trade and Industry Minister Trevor Manuel.
In a Cabinet reshuffle sparked by the resignation of Chris Liebenberg, Deputy Minister of Finance Alec Erwin will now take over Manuel’s portfolio, while ANC MP Gill Marcus, chairman of Parliament’s joint standing committee on finance, will become Deputy Finance Minister.
President Nelson Mandela announced Liebenberg’s long-anticipatedresignation and the reshuffle at the conclusion of the first reading debate of the budget in the National Assembly on Thursday evening.
He consulted with his government of national unity partners, National Party leader FW de Klerk and IFP leader Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, during a meeting at Tuynhuis on Wednesday afternoon.
Liebenberg had already retired as chief executive of Nedcor when he was persuaded to take the position of finance minister in the wake of Derek Keys’ sudden resignation in 1994. Liebenberg, who helped the ANC investigate its economic policy before it came into government, has made it clear in the past that he saw his task as a bridging role.
It is understood that he discussed his desire to resign with President Mandela some months ago.
Manuel impressed many as a “quick study” when he took the helm of the Ministry of Trade and Industry and steered South Africa back into international trade.
His award in January 1994 from the World Economic Forum as “Global Leader for Tommorrow” recognised the former Western Cape political activist’s impact on the world business arena — a far cry from his previous record of one of the longest detained Cape activists during the 1980s.
He introduced the South African political economy to the concepts of globalisation and international competitiveness. Despite grumblings from unions and business, his achievements have been remarkable, considering the economic self-sufficiency and isolation inherited from successive apartheid governments.
Manuel began his career as an engineer and practised as a technician in Cape Town before being catapulted into the hurly-burly of protest politics.
His first foray into politics began in the Cape Areas Housing Action League from which he was soon identified as leadership material for the United Democratic Front which he served as a national executive member.
During the security crackdown in the 1980s he spent 35 months in detention and under house arrest. His first experience in the economic arena was in 1989, when the was employed by the Mobil Foundation as policy manager on Entrepreneurial and Community Development.
After the unbanning of the ANC, he headed the organisation’s Department of Economic Planning, shaping its economic policy.
Market reaction to the musical chairs was muted last night, although there were no immediate fears of dramatic policy changes.
Dealers, while not overly enthusiastic at Manuel’s appointment, felt he would have to continue the consultative line taken by his predecessor. Certainly, no instant lifting of exchange controls was expected.
But once the news has been digested, the picture could be very different, especially if foreign investors take fright.
Markets and business will adopt a wait-and-see approach; nobody was rushing in with great confidence. This attitude was reflected in late trading; the rand was uncharacteristically steady at R3,98.