Judge me on my actions – Van Rooyen

Zuma replaced his preferred choice for finance minister, David van Rooyen, with veteran Pravin Gordhan on Sunday, after the financial sector and leaders of the governing alliance had lobbied him at the weekend to move to contain the damage to the economy.

Van Rooyen was responding to a question on whether he had signed off on the Russian nuclear and the SAA Airbus deals.

“Unfortunately there are no deals that have been signed; if maybe that is what you want to hear”.

Just two days ago, Van Rooyen was axed from his position as Finance Minister, one which he held for only four days. “If possible, let’s avoid being stuck in the past”, he said.

“I urge South Africa to judge me by my performance‚” he said. Has cabinet approved nuke deal?

“We are working with various stakeholders across various sectors to ensure that our young men can undergo this rite of passage in a safe manner”, the minister said.

The South African Local Government Association (Salga) says it’s looking forward to meeting with van Rooyen, the new minister in charge of local government.

“I understand and support the decisions made by President Zuma”.

Social media was abuzz with calls for Zuma to quit, with #ZumaMustStillFall trending on Twitter, replacing #ZumaMustFall, and casting doubt on the political future of the 73 year-old president at the helm of the ruling African National Congress. Opinion is, however, divided over whether Zuma could be forced to relinquish the reins in Africa’s most industrialised country.

He said ahead of the local government elections‚ he would be “perfecting” community engagement‚ stating there was a need to restore confidence among South Africans. He said he was aware of the challenges that lay ahead of him, but due to his experience at local government, he was ready to face them.