JOHANNESBURG – As the news that South Africa could have a new finance minister very soon after Nhlanhla Nene asked President Cyril Ramaphosa to be let go as the minister of finance, the main opposition party in South Africa, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said President Ramaphosa should accept Nene's request to step down as the country's finance boss.
David Maynier MP and DA Shadow Minister of Finance, said: " The minister’s conduct, taken together with the fact that he is likely to be the subject of at least two ongoing investigations, which will drag on for months, now risks compromising public confidence in National Treasury."
Maynier added that the minister himself pointed out in his evidence before the Zondo Commission that, “the optimal relationship is for the Minister of Finance to have the full support of the President at all times”.
Maynier said in a statement: "We find it hard to believe that, under the circumstances, the minister has the “full support” of President Cyril Ramaphosa, who stated, in his State of the Nation Address on 16 February 2018, 'this is the year in which we will turn the tide of corruption in our public institutions'."
Maynier further added, "We believe, therefore, that President Cyril Ramaphosa should accept the minister’s offer to resign and act swiftly to replace him before the medium-term budget policy statement is presented in Parliament."
Do you think that President Cyril Ramaphosa should replace South Africa's Finance minister Nhlanhla Nene? #FinanceMinister #NhlanhlaNene #CyrilRamaphosa
— Business Report (@busrep) October 8, 2018