Thabo Mohlala
Andrew Feinstein, a former African National Congress MP who resigned from his post over the arms deal imbroglio, has found a new job in London with Investec, a South African bank with a significant presence in Britain.
His new responsibilities seem to dovetail with the central plank of his party: development of the country for the benefit of all. He says his first six months will be devoted to familiarising himself with all areas of the business.
“As such, I am working with the organisation development unit focusing mainly on facilitating strategy development in businesses within the group and within individual business units within the bank,” he said.
Is he lost to politics? No. He told the Mail & Guardian in August last year that “by resigning I am acknowledging my deep concern about our accountability mechanisms in Parliament, specifically, but not exclusively”. He has since said he will continue to assist his former constituency of Sea Point to reclaim their land and also raise funds to help develop it. And he is writing a book chronicling his involvement in politics from the Kempton Park negotiations in 1991 until his abrupt departure last year.
Feinstein, a relatively unknown backroom politician, came to prominence by diverging from his party’s views on how to handle the R66-billion arms deal issue. He persistently called for an impartial and comprehensive investigation. This angered the ANC contingent within the public accounts committee, who not only wanted to “determine what gets handled by the committee and what does not”, but also sought to “shield the party from objective investigation”.