Cape Town - Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has social media users speculating about his employment status after he posted a cryptic message about being out of politics on Twitter.
Mboweni, who is leading South Africa’s delegation to Davos, posted the message on Friday as the ANC's National Executive Committee was meeting to discuss Eskom and other State-Owned Entities.
In his Twitter post on Friday Mboweni said: “Politics and longevity. Political history shows that overstaying your time in office is bad. Unlike royalty, you may be ejected from State House in an undignified manner. It is good to retire gracefully.”
He gave no further clarity on the meaning of his tweet.
Politics and Longevity. Political history shows that overstaying your time in office is bad. Unlike royalty, you may be ejected from State House in an undignified manner. It is good to retire gracefully.
Mboweni landed himself in hot water with the ANC on Wednesday when he used Twitter to call on government to fast-track structural reforms to get the economy back on track . He also said the ruling party's 2017 decision on the Reserve Bank, taken at its elective conference at Nasrec, was “a wrong resolution”.
“The African National Congress (ANC) is concerned about the public posture taken by Comrade Tito Mboweni in relation to resolutions and policy positions of the ANC, specifically on the South African Reserve Bank (SARB). It is our view that Comrade Tito should act with care and be cautious at all times on matters of policy given his position as the Minister of Finance, including subjecting himself to the overall Communications Protocols of the African National Congress.
“Those who serve in leadership structures of our movement, especially within the National Executive Committee; (NEC), the highest decision-making body in between conferences, are expected at all times to uphold and defend resolutions of the ANC on public platforms,” the party said in a statement issued later the same day.
It is expected that the outspoken Mboweni will come under fire from his detractors at the NEC meeting.
Political Bureau