"Mboweni was more interested in cooking than in the Ministery", says Dawie Roodt
- Chief Economist at Efficient Group Dawie Roodt spoke exclusively to Briefly News following Enoch Godongwana's appointment as the new Finance Minister
- Roodt said Godongwana having more political support than the previous minister is an advantage in his new role
- The economist said he believes Godongwana is the best man for the job at the moment and that he is likely to be there longer than Mboweni
- Roodt told the publication he predicted some time ago that Mboweni would only occupy the role for a short period
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Chief Economist at Efficient Group Dawie Roodt has welcomed the resignation of Tito Mboweni while expressing confidence in the new Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana.
Roodt spoke to Briefly News in an exclusive interview on the back of Godongwana being the latest presidential appointee to oversee a crucial ministerial portfolio in the country.
Source: UGC
President Cyril Ramaphosa made sweeping changes to his cabinet two weeks ago and ensured several key positions were filled as the country moves on from recent turbulent events.
Roodt, while commending Mboweni for his experience and the trust he was able to earn from the financial markets, downplayed the politician's commitment to leading the finance ministry forward.
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"Mboweni has the background, the experience and the trust of the financial markets, but he simply wasn't present," lamented Roodt.
"He was simply there to keep the seat warm for somebody else to come through, but the markets had trust in him, and I think that is the 'biggest' part of the boots that need to be filled."
Roodt said the fact that Godongwana has more political support than the previous minister is an advantage. He also echoed the sentiments of other experts in the financial markets.
This includes comments made by the Head of Capital Markets Research at Intellidex, Peter Attard Montalto, who described Godongwana as possibly the best available option at the moment. Roodt said:
"He is going to be there for a longer time than Mboweni. He certainly is the best candidate to fill those boots; I think he is probably the best.
"There is one issue, however, the skeleton that he has in his cupboard. But apart from that, I think he has big enough feet to fill those boots."
Turning his attention back to Mboweni, Roodt told Briefly News that he made the prediction that he would only occupy the role for a short period.
"Although he was pretty much a supporter of the president, he wasn't really part of the inner circle; he wasn't really part of the clique. In fact, it's also an open secret that he has not been at the office that much," added Roodt.
"People at treasury were getting a little frustrated because he was not there. You don't have to be there physically, but it was clear that his heart wasn't there. He was more interested in looking after his ovens and in cooking than running the Ministry of Finance.
"And the kind of comments that he made, they were more to please the markets, for example, 'I'm going to cut spending'. There was no real urgency [during his term in office]."
Former Finance Minister Tito Mboweni lets Mzansi in on life after his resignation
Recently, Briefly News reported that Mboweni, Mzansi's favourite social media-inclined politician and the recent former Minister of Finance, has caused his latest stir on Twitter.
This time, it was not over a cook-off in his kitchen with Lucky Star tinned fish on hand, but on what life has been like since his decision to quit the ministerial role.
The cuisine-lover was sworn in as Minister of Finance on 9 October 2018, following Nhlanhla Nene's resignation, until his own decision to step down from the ministerial position on 5 August 2021.
Ramaphosa announced that he had accepted Mboweni's request to resign. Taking to his official account, the pseudo-chef penned a message that sparked a flood of colourful reactions from South Africans. He wrote:
"Feels very strange to notice that my weekly appointments have been cancelled. They were work-related. So they had to be cancelled. Feels odd but it is the reality. At least I can feed the chickens and lambs for now."
Source: Briefly News
