South Africa gets its third finance minister in a week

The rand lost 9% against the dollar, and government bonds slumped, forcing Zuma to make a U-turn.

“I have received many representations to reconsider my decision”, Zuma wrote late Sunday of his decision to return Gordhan to the treasury. “We took the painful decision to recall the ANC Pres from his position as head of State and the President of the Republic of South Africa”, one of the tweets stated, before they were deleted, according to BBC News.

Meanwhile, Minister Nene was maturing like a heady wine in the Finance Ministry day by day, as his background reveals that he was once the deputy Minister of Finance.

At his first press conference since his appointment on Sunday night, Pravin Gordhan assured onlookers fearful that the country is on the brink of an economic crisis that the government’s fiscal policies would remain prudent and sustainable, and unaffected by Mr Zuma’s sacking of the widely admired finance minister Nhlanhla Nene last week.

Van Rooyen, who had been finance minister for only four tumultuous days, has swapped roles with Gordhan as Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.

The party noted statements by prominent South Africans who added their voices to the condemnation of the ANC and Zuma.

The decision to replace Nhlanhla Nene with van Rooyen set off an avalanche of criticism that appeared to take Zuma by surprise.

Minister Gordhan will return to a portfolio that he had held proficiently during the fourth administration. The obvious question now is whether South Africa can afford to keep such an expensive President?

Such an unusual act of president Zuma made people to have different feelings, as some felt that he has been poorly advised, as such actions might follow on the footsteps of Zimbabwe which has gone down the drain. “Nothing to save South Africa from junk status here, which is negative and a disappointment for the market”.

After President Zuma’s reinstatement of Gordhan, the rand bounced back up a bit and some stocks were recovered.

There were also calls for Zuma to be recalled as president of the country.

CNN’s senior market economist David Rees remarked, “the dire financial position, coupled with high inflation and a fragile balance of payments position, all point to a further depreciation of the rand against the dollar in 2016/17”.