The South African Property Owners Association (Sapoa) has expressed their disappointment at the decision by President Jacob Zuma to remove Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene.
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The unexpected decision by Jacob Zuma sent the South African rand sharply lower versus the United States dollar. The president replaced him with a lawmaker with limited financial experience, David Van Rooyen, a former mayor from a municipality west of Johannesburg.
“Mr Nene has done well since his appointment as Minister of Finance during a hard economic climate”, Zuma said, without providing the reason for sacking him. Fitch, which cut South Africa’s credit rating to BBB-minus, the lowest investment-grade category, less than a week ago has sounded a negative note about the sacking. They were also unhappy with the appointment of Van Rooyen as the new finance minister.
The dismissal of its minister is seen as a deliberate scheme to place it directly under Mr. Zuma’s thumb.
“This conference won’t make any other fundamental changes to the current leadership”, he said.
Business Day reported that with Nene out of the way, SAA is hoping that the Airbus deal will be “revisited” by new Finance Minister David van Rooyen.
Opposition parties have been blunt in their response, describing Zuma’s decision as uninformed and politically motivated.
“As business in South Africa, we are particularly concerned that the shock announcement comes at a time when our country and our economy are in desperate need of continuity and consistency of policy”.
Happier times. Former Finance Minister Nhlahla Nene (L) sitting alongside his predecessor Pravin Gordhan (R).
Statistics released earlier on Wednesday showed that South Africa’s headline consumer inflation rose 4.8 percent year-on-year in November, compared with 4.7 percent in October.
“The removal of a technocratically sound, decent, hardworking, well respected, fiscally conservative and reform-minded Finance Minister is a serious blow”.
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Zuma supporters have meanwhile urged South Africans not to lose faith in their president saying he “has what it takes” to lead the country down a slippery slope. A downgrade to junk would spark further capital flight, push up government debt costs and place the rand and bonds under renewed pressure. The country narrowly avoided recession in the last quarter, managing less than 1 percent growth, according to Statistics South Africa, a government agency. He called on South Africans to unite to demand the return of the more experienced Nene. The EFF criticised Zuma for making the announcement through the media before consulting with lawyers representing the families, who had already filed court papers for a civil suit against the state.
