Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene has been removed from his post by President Jacob Zuma. File picture: Waldo Swiegers Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene has been removed from his post by President Jacob Zuma. File picture: Waldo Swiegers
Cape Town - The Western Cape government has joined a chorus of disapproval over President Jacob Zuma’s move to fire Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene and replace him with David van Rooyen – a relatively unknown parliamentary backbencher.
MEC of Finance Ivan Meyer said the country would now “move faster towards a fiscal cliff” because of Zuma’s decision, with the rand already plummeting, hitting over R15 to the dollar.
Meyer, who is abroad attending a financial governance workshop in Germany, said Zuma was clearly not interested in fiscal discipline which is something Nene was promoting.
“The removal of Nene is not about his performance but about promoting ‘Zumanomics’ into our fiscal policy environment,” he added.
Meyer took to Facebook to air his concerns, saying he had worked with Nene, and claiming that his removal had now destroyed the last functional government entity – the National Treasury.
“I will meet (Nene) in Berlin, Germany next week. We have to get ready for the Union Buildings. Change is coming. The DA doesn’t panic anymore, we are preparing to govern,” Meyer posted.
MEC of Economic Opportunities Alan Winde came to a similar doomsday scenario, saying the country was just short of being “downgraded to junk status”.
“We have now been rated as the most corrupt country in Africa.
“Our economy is failing, investment is dwindling and we can’t afford our growing dependence on the grant system, let alone the National Health Insurance and nuclear build programmes.”
Winde said the national parastatals were failing the country, which has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world.
“One of the few ministers with the backbone to do something about our challenges has now been removed because he dared to stand up for what was in the best interests of our economy.
“This is a crazy move,” Winde added.
He said the sad thing was that the poor – the voters the president should represent – are the people who would suffer most. “Everything will cost more now and poor people will face the brunt of this decision.”
CAPE ARGUS