Now back at the helm
South Africa’s new minister of finance, Nhlanhla Nene, will begin to identify issues at National Treasury on Wednesday when he will get the first glimpse under the hood.
Speaking to the Mail & Guardian on Wednesday morning as he prepared for his first Cabinet meeting, Nene said it was not easy to predict what his would tackle first.
“Look it’s not an easy thing to say. I don’t want to jump the gun and pretend to know what the key challenges are,” Nene said. “I need to refamiliarise myself with the department again, I haven’t been to the office, I’m going in later today.”
READ MORE: Nene: I had to come back, for SA
The minister said he was awaiting a handover report he had requested.
New South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, reshuffled the Cabinet selected by former president Jacob Zuma on Monday night. The appointment of Nene to finance minister was welcomed as he had proved to be capable in the job previously, until he was suddenly pulled from the post by Zuma causing great much alarm to the county and the markets.
Now back at the helm, Nene said: “It is important to get down to the budget and what informed the decisions taken.”
The decision to raise VAT from 14% to 15%, announced by former finance minister Malusi Gigaba in the 2018 budget speech last week, has elicited an outcry from a number of parties who argue it will hurt the poor despite government budgeting for fee-free higher education for low-income households and a move to raise social grants by more than inflation.
Asked if he would want to tackle the great number of key staff members that left Treasury after Gigaba was given the top job by the former president in March last year, Nene responded that it was not possible to say if people would be brought back into the organisation. “You don’t know, people moved on to other jobs and they have committed, as did I. But when national service called for me I had to relinquish those [roles], it’s not the same for others.”
The minister however noted it was important that he go to treasury, “and see that the machinery is in place”.