FINANCIAL DIVIDE
CAROL PATON: Poison added to bad chemistry between Treasury and ministry
The appearance of reports intended to damage the image of the Treasury has sharpened the divide between the ministry and the department
Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba knows that his only chance of building confidence with the markets is if he is able to persuade people that there is continuity in the Treasury. On his roadshows, he has tried to reassure fund managers that it is business as usual, and to prove it, he has appointed an insider — Dondo Mogajane — as director-general after the departure of Lungisa Fuzile. But that is where "continuity" ended. The relationship between the Treasury and the ministry is in tatters. The trust previous ministers had with senior officials, who they relied on for technical work and advice, has evaporated. Gigaba spends little of his time with or in the department, preferring instead to consult the staff he has brought into the ministry – about 22 people, double the number specified in the ministerial handbook. Not even the prospect of a R50bn revenue shortfall, which has raised the chances of an immediate credit ratings downgrade when the medium-term budget policy statement is ta...
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