The new finance minister, Malusi Gigaba, is bespectacled like an economics professor, with an austere presence that is somewhat intimidating. My mind flashes back to images of him in a bright yellow T-shirt, testimony to his activist roots as former leader of the ANC Youth League. Things change quickly in politics. As a country, we are now among emerging markets, which some define as economies where politics matters more than economics. I was surprised to get an invitation to Parliament for an unexpected meeting just before the Easter weekend. "He’s gonna tell you what you want to hear," said one of my colleagues (analysts are paid to be cynical). But I enjoy meeting up with "management" teams and you don’t get bigger than this. The new guardian of the national wallet took three hours to face up to local investors at the Parliament compound a mere fortnight after his appointment. It was a macabre dance with an audience that was obviously licking its wounds after the latest Cabinet c...

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