NEW FINANCE MINISTER
HILARY JOFFE: Gigaba has a job to keep red flags down
‘The more Malusi Gigaba talks, the more markets will want to know what his statements actually mean – and which of them he means’
There’s no doubt about it: writing about the new finance minister is going to be an endurance test. Only the hardiest journalists may survive if he continues at the pace set since his appointment on Thursday night. By Saturday morning, he was giving his first media conference, which ended only after an interminable two and a half hours. He was out there again on Monday, presiding over a South African Revenue Service (SARS) news briefing that ran for nearer to three hours. Just a day later, he seeks to be in the spotlight again on Tuesday, with a media conference to follow his meeting with his predecessor, Pravin Gordhan. Malusi Gigaba, who has long been rumoured to have presidential ambitions (for next time), courted media attention systematically in his previous portfolios, making sure to use all possible platforms and photo-ops. This is nice, in a way. Most members of the Cabinet view media engagements not as an opportunity, but a threat. The finance ministry has always been the s...
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