Politicians are saying Ramaphosa has no option but to sack Nene who lied to MPs about the extent of his contacts with the wealthy Indian Gupta family accused off profiting from an inappropriate close relationship with former President Jacob Zuma.

Nhlanhla Nene told the commission of inquiry into state capture that was sacked as Finance Minister by then President  Jacob Zuma for failing to approve policies that would benefit the Gupta family.

In giving this testimony, he said he had visited the Gupta home in Johannesburg a number of times.

This contradicted an earlier assurance he had given MPs that he had barely known the Guptas.

In the storm that erupted from this, Nene, who was reinstated by President Cyril Ramaphosa last February, apologised to the people of South Africa. 

And yesterday (Monday) he asked Ramaphosa to relieve him of his duties.

His departure would be financially awkward. Credit ratings agency Moodys is due to  report on South Africa later this week and Nene is due to deliver his mini Budget to Parliament on October 24.

Opposition parties say Ramaphosa’s commitment to build a clean South Afrian society is at stake.

They say Nene must go , for lying to MPs, even if he refused to do the Guptas’  bidding.

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They say the measures the South African President  outlined to the media in Pretoria yesterday (Friday) contain no new injection of money into the economy that slipped into recession last month. At best it can be termed a recovery programme.

President Cyril Ramaphosa is adamant that South Africa economic salvation lies in attracting foreign investment.

His remarks to the media yesterday – presaged by his briefing to the diplomatic corps a week earlier – laid the foundation  for an investment summit in Johannesburg next month.

He has not put flesh on the bones of his promise to invest in infrastructure and ease the country’s tough visa regime that deters skilled foreign visitors and tourists.

He is redirecting nearly three billion euros, already in the Budget, to those areas of the economy that will most impact youth, women and small business.

Neither he nor his Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene would say which sectors will have to sacrifice their Budget allocation.

Ramaphoa will also redirect 15 billion euros to the infrastructure development  and the agriculture sector.

He says this is designed to respire the economy, attract investment and save jobs.

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He advises his compatriots not to panic and to trust the administration’s plans to get the country back into growth.

Nhlanhla Nene says government expected moderate growth in the second quarter of this year, having seen a shrinkage of 2.6% in the first quarter because of drought impacting on agricultural production and a fall in mining and manufacturing.

Instead  the economy contracted a further 0.7% putting the country into what Nene calls a technical recession.

However he paints it, economists are saying its the end of the upbeat mood inspired by the new  President Cyril Ramaphosa which was dubbed  Ramaphoria.

Nene says the increasingly bitter debate about land reform, which will result in the  expropriation of some farmland without compensation, has not caused the recession.

White rightwing pressure groups, who have got the ear of conservatives in Britain and the United States, will disagree.

Nene says South Africans are understandably concerned, but they should have faith in the national develop plan that includes summits on investment and jobs during the course of this year.

The rand has fallen to a two year low, presaging fuel price and interest rate hikes for consumers struggling to make ends meet.

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He’s brought back ministers sacked by his predecessor Jacob Zuma that will be popular with investors and the market.

The opposition has criticized his failure to downsize the executive because, he says,  this is still under review.

ends intro

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the Cabinet announcement was 90-minutes late because he had to consult with ministers who were appointed and some who were leaving.

The biggest compromise is his naming Mpumalanga premier David Mabuza as his Deputy President.

Mabuza, who is also deputy president of the ANC is credited with producing  the delegates that gave Ramaphosa his narrow victory as party leader last December.

Former finance minister Pravin Gordhan returns as Minister of Public Enterprises.

Nhlanhla Nene, sacked by Jacob Zuma, makes a comeback as Finance Minister.

ANC national chairman Gwede Mantashe, who has a background of leading a miner’s union, is appointed Minister of Mines.

Communist Party leader Blade Nzimande also makes a return to Cabinet as Transport Minister.

Lindiwe Sisulu, widely tipped to be Ramaphosa’s second-in-command, comes in a Minister of International Relations and Cooperation.

Malusi Gigaba, much criticized for his connection to the Gupta family that’s been accused of state capture with the Zuma administration, has been moved from Finance to  Home Affairs.

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However the finance minister promises government will do what it can to save money.

South Africans face their first tax increase in two decades because the country’s swimming in debt

The nation faces its biggest budget deficit since the ANC came to power.

As its contribution, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene says government will cut the spending ceiling by one point five billion euros.

He predicts GDP growth over the next year will be only two percent – less than a third of what the country needs to create jobs and grow the economy.

South Africans had braced for higher taxes. The increase of one percent across all brackets was less than many had expected.

Nevertheless economist Okkie Kellerman says the impact will be on those who can least afford it.

The crisis in electricty supply is really hurting the economy.

Nene says some of the tariff increases are only temporary

Education, health, crime fighting and social grants get the biggest slice of the Budget in a country where 16 million people depend on government handouts for survival.

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Briefing the media on that gathering in Australia, Finance Minister Nhlanhala Nene says the action plan requires each of the G20 countries to join a collective effort to increase growth.

Earlier this month, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene warned in his mid-term Budget policy statement that South Africa has no fiscal flexibility.

He told the American Chamber of Commerce South Africa’s in for two years of pain.

He was asked how, under these circumstances, he could sign up to G20’s growth plan.

Nene says the Brisbane Agreement is about a collective effort and South Africa has five years to improve its growth.

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Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene says it was South Africa that put Ebola on the agenda at the G20 summit in Australia last weekend.

Nene tells a briefing in Pretoria today that South African ensures Ebola is discussed at all multilateral meetings it participates in.

Finance Minister Nhlanhala Nene says South Africa’s worried about the impact Ebola could have on the continent’s economic growth.

He says Ebola’s  more than an economic matter

it’s important to have mulitalateral institutions with a heart.

It has been encouraging to see the level at which fighting the deadly haemorrhagic disease is being dealt with.

The inter-connectivity of the world means that distance is no longer a safeguard against Ebola.

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Delivering his mid-term budget in parliament, he says South Africa’s economy at a turning point. It  reflects the slide on the global environment but also strikes , domestic energy shortages and administrative shortcoming.

South Africa’s economic performance looking like it did during the days of international pressure against the apartheid regime.

Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene halved the forecast growth rate down to 1.4% for 2014. That’s a third of what the World Bank’s expecting for the rest of Africa.

South Africa’s five percent annual growth rate fell off after the 2009 global recession.

It’s struggled to reach 2%   since then.

Nene’s warned public service workers that government simply cannot pay them increases exceeding the inflation rate of 6.3%.

He forecasts growth will increase to 3% by 2015 as new energy comes on stream.

But this is still short of the rate required to impact on the country’s 25 percent unemployment.

Nene says he’ll rein in spending and increase taxes to cut the current budget deficit from 4% to two-and-a-half percent by 2015.

He’s adamant that the spending cuts won’t compromise social services and financial support for the poor in one of the most unequal societies on the planet.

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