By Dianne Smith
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel and his wife Lynne Matthews on Friday announced they had separated and would soon begin divorce proceedings.
The Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) issued the statement on behalf of the couple at 4.30pm when the markets had closed - apparently to avoid an adverse effect on the value of the rand.
In the brief statement Manuel and Matthews stated that they accepted that this time in their lives would be an exceedingly difficult one for them and their three sons.
"We therefore ask that we be accorded the privacy and respect to resolve this traumatic period between ourselves," the couple added.
In a separate statement a GCIS spokesperson reiterated the statement by Manuel and Matthews. He said it would be a difficult time for both of them, adding that President Thabo Mbeki therefore also hoped their wish for privacy would be respected.
"The president views this as a profoundly personal matter which has no bearing on Trevor Manuel's service to the nation as minister of finance.
"President Mbeki has full confidence in the minister, and the issue of his continued responsibility as minister has not arisen and does not arise," the spokesperson added.
Over the past few years rumours have abounded in political and business circles that Manuel and the director-general of the treasury, Maria Ramos, were having an affair.
Speculation has also been rife that Ramos is to resign from her position, while Manuel will take up a position at the World Bank.
They have both denied this. Ramos could not be reached for comment on Friday, while a spokesperson for her office declined to comment, saying "it is a personal matter".
A political activist and detainee in the 1980s, Manuel started his political career as a Labour Party activist in the 1960s and was a founding member of the United Democratic Front.
Although he has a background in engineering, Manuel was appointed head of the ANC's economic planning division in 1990 and was chief economics spokesperson at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Washington in the early 1990s, before being appointed trade and industry minister.