Indian-origin politician Pravin Gordhan has been appointed South Africa’s new

South Africa’s new finance minister – its third in four days – has moved to calm markets and investors unnerved by an astonishing week in South African politics, which ended with President Jacob Zuma bowing to pressure over his handling of the finance portfolio.

This was before Zuma axed Nhlanhla Nene as finance minister on Wednesday and replaced him with the relatively unknown David van Rooyen. “As a democratic government, we emphasise the importance of listening to the people and to respond to their views”, Zuma said.

The benchmark Johannesburg All Shares Index traded as much as 2 percent higher on Monday and shares in South Africa’s banking index soared up to 16 percent on news that Zuma had replaced his new finance minister with the more experienced Pravin Gordhan late on Sunday.

Earlier, deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte said Zuma had made a decision to change van Rooyen’s appointment on Sunday afternoon after a 70 minute meeting with top party officials, including deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa.

“I have been associated with the finance family for nearly two decades”, he said in his first media address as the new finance boss.

“The markets will welcome back Gordhan”, John Cairns, a currency strategist at FirstRand Ltd.’s Rand Merchant Bank in Johannesburg, said in an e-mailed note. Standard & Poor’s maintained South Africa’s “BBB-” foreign currency credit rating, but revised the outlook to negative, ABC reported.

ANC spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said a number of hoax statements had been doing the rounds, saying Zuma had been recalled. They also described his latest appointment as a sign Zuma was losing control.

Prof. Duvenhage believes Nene’s removal might be because of his strict policies on spending such as his refusal to bail out the national carrier South African Airways whose board chair has a close relationship with the president.

“South Africa has reached the ceiling of the cost Jacob Zuma can inflict upon our nation”. According to BBC, Gordhan “was widely respected when he served as South Africa’s finance minister”. “He is a known entity, is his own man and did well when in the post previously”.

“We will stay on course for sound fiscal management”. “Our humble appeal is “for you” to work with us as we continue to build a resilient economy and a better life for all South Africans”.

In attempts to assuage fears of investors, Gordhan said the government will “protect all those invested in the South African economy”.