It is a good thing, therefore, that finance minister Tito Mboweni is a maverick and can withstand the political heat. It is no secret that he did not want to return to the government and had to be talked into it by President Cyril Ramaphosa. He is not desperate to keep his job.
As dreadful as the messages were in last week’s budget, Mboweni was able to carry the day because of his big personality and because he is not bothered by the pushback from labour, opposition parties and from within the ANC.