Fired finance minister Pravin Gordhan said he and his fired deputy, Mcebisi Jonas, learned of their dismissal from the TV, "not from any chat or phone call". Addressing the media on his axing in President Jacob Zuma's shock Cabinet reshuffle, Gordhan did not shy away from the controversy surrounding his appointment. "It was necessary because of the blunders made on 9/12 when a good, hardworking person who occupied this chair, (Nhlanhla) Nene, was told he no longer needed to occupy this chair." Gordhan said the bond yield moved from 8.3% to 8.9% since the announcement so "as both government and as South Africans we are paying extra to borrow", Gordhan said. Treasury had gone to the market on Friday to raise R600m in short-term funding but had received bids for only R200m because of investors' concerns about the events of last night "We have been doing our best to reassure rating agencies, investors and South Africans finances are safe in our hands." 'Intelligence report' He said the ...

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