Johannesburg - The appointment of Lesetja Kganyago as SA Reserve Bank governor was widely welcomed on Tuesday.
The National African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Nafcoc) said it could not be happier with the appointment and congratulated Kganyago on his appointment.
“His appointment is testament to his passion for his work and this country,” it said in a statement.
“He is a skilled and committed cadre with unwavering contribution and dedication to the development of South Africa.”
Nafcoc said it hoped Kganyago would bring about “pro-people” policies and assist in promulgation of policies which would assist in mainstream South Africa.
The organisation bid outgoing governor Gill Marcus farewell and thanked her for her work.
President Jacob Zuma announced Kganyago's appointment in Pretoria on Monday. Marcus steps down on November 8.
The Inkatha Freedom Party said Kganyago would add positive energy to the economy.
“Mr Kganyago brings a wealth of experience to the Reserve Bank at a critical juncture in its history which we believe will only augur well for the institution and the country,” IFP MP Sibongile Nkomo said in a statement.
The party thanked Marcus for the contribution she made during her tenure as governor.
The Black Business Council said Kganyago was the natural choice for the job.
“Mr Kganyago was a natural choice as he is credited with expert technical knowledge and is an astute leader, having distinguished himself at the National Treasury as director general for seven years, and recently as deputy governor of the Reserve Bank since 2011,” BBC president Ndaba Ntsele said in a statement.
“The BBC strongly believes that Mr Kganyago is the right incumbent for the job given his experience as a leader, a public servant and accounting officer par excellence.”
Trade union Solidarity called on Kganyago to steer the SARB back to its mandate of maintaining price stability.
“Kganyago takes the SARB's reins in an environment where the upper band of the SARB's inflation target is breached and where South Africans are discouraged from saving and suffer continuous and significant erosion of their purchasing power, both internally and externally,” it said in a statement.
“The union also expressed its wish that Kganyago would at long last scrap the obsolete exchange controls, which currently puts an unnecessary heavy administrative and financial burden on South Africans and South African businesses.”
The union wished Kganyago well in his new job.
Earlier, the Congress of SA Trade Unions and its affiliate, the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union, and the Black Management Forum congratulated Kganyago on his appointment.
The Economic Freedom Fighters, however, said Kganyago's appointment was an affirmation of “neo-liberalism” in the country.
It called him a “capable black person” who would do well as governor.
Sapa