Both projects are seen as being controlled by Zuma loyalists, who are regularly accused of using their influence to benefit from government contracts.
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The abrupt firing of South Africa’s finance minister created uncertainty about Africa’s second-largest economy Thursday as its currency plunged to an all-time low.
A senior minister in the Treasury questioned the timing of the new appointment.
Zuma’s office also criticised as a “malicious fabrication” reports that Nene was removed because Myeni was not happy with instructions from the respected former finance minister. Nene clashed with the chairwoman of South African Airways, Dudu Myeni, who also heads Zuma’s charitable foundation, after he refused the loss- making national carrier permission to restructure a plane- leasing deal.
While the African National Congress (ANC) said the president did not have to explain his decisions, South Africans on social media reacted with outrage. This was less than a week after Fitch Ratings Ltd. cut the country’s debt to BBB-, the lowest investment-grade level and Standard and Poor’s lowered the outlook on its equivalent rating to negative.
Protests demanding the removal of Jacob Zuma as president of South Africa are being planned for at least 4 different dates.
Speaking at a post Cabinet briefing in Pretoria, Radebe said that when the Cabinet met on Wednesday, there was no indication from the president that he would fire Nene.
KHUTSONG, South Africa, Dec 11 Residents of South Africa’s Khutsong township remember David van Rooyen as a kindly mayor always willing to help out.
“Government will not abandon the fiscal path that we have chosen in the last few years”, he said in an e-mailed statement on Friday.
Opposition politicians joined the chorus of dismay.
She said that during his seven years in power, Zuma had destroyed the carefully cultured reputation for competent government built up since the ANC and Nelson Mandela took over from the white-minority government in 1994.
South Africa’s credit rating is on the verge of junk status at a time when the price of its exports of gold, coal and platinum are tumbling.
The party said in a statement that David van Rooyen was inexperienced with questionable political credentials.
The contrast to Nene’s appointment 18 months ago could hardly be starker: he had been carefully groomed for the top job, serving as deputy finance minister from 2008 to 2014.
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The SACP thanked Nene for his service to the country. Van Rooyen was sworn in Thursday during a brief ceremony in the capital, Pretoria.
