The new director general of the national Treasury is only likely to be officially announced in a few months.
Despite the importance of the post, the government has to go through the entire official process to fill the position, including advertising the job, interviewing and having Cabinet make the appointment.
As a result, Treasury officials expect the current director general, Maria Ramos, to stay in her post possibly until the beginning of next year. She has held the job since 1996.
Ramos, who has resigned from the Treasury, is set to take over as the CEO of the state-owned transport corporation, Transnet. The current CEO of Transnet, Mafika Mkwanazi, is moving to the private sector.
Ramos’s move comes as no surprise as it has been an open secret that she has wanted to leave the Treasury, where she made her name. She and Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel have broadly been credited for keeping South Africa on a sound, if relatively conservative, economic path.
The appointment of Ramos to head Transnet is an indication of the importance the government is placing on improving the country’s transport infrastructure, in the hope that it will help boost economic activity and growth in the country. The government recently earmarked R80-billion as capital expenditure for Transnet.
On Friday Minister of Public Enterprises Jeff Radebe also announced a shake-up of the Transnet board, which included making several new appointments.
The front-runner for the director general job is Lesetja Kganyago, currently the deputy director general of the Treasury, responsible for economic policy and international financial relations. This division also advises the Treasury on macroeconomic policy and formulates tax policy.
Kganyago has worked at the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and for investment bank Goldman Sachs. He has also spent time at the South African Reserve Bank and with the African National Congress and the Congress of South African Trade Unions.