PETER BRUCE: Zuma's contagion
The president will see this crisis through; and however sincere his new finance minister, Malusi Gigaba, may be, he will not be able to resist pressure from No 1 to serve his paymasters, the Guptas
Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert, one of the icons of the white liberal establishment before the fall of apartheid, used to say that "SA is too big to grab by the throat". Until now, I’ve believed that. But the fact is that President Jacob Zuma does have the country by the throat. By sacking finance minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas, Zuma has placed compliant leaders in the one department, national treasury, that has denied him unfettered access to public funds. Obviously the new minister, Malusi Gigaba, is more sophisticated a politician than David Des van Rooyen, the nonentity Zuma tried to insert into the job in December 2015. But there’s a strange congruence to how Van Rooyen and Gigaba expressed themselves upon arrival. Even in his more mellow post-downgrade response, Gigaba will battle to keep his word. First, inclusive growth is hard to achieve. It can only be the result of deep and detailed work, crafting a consensus about a new kind of capitalism. There is scope...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.