Gordhan's out

Under cover of darkness, Zuma used a cabinet reshuffle as a smokescreen for his real goal of removing Gordhan, and his deputy, Mcebisi Jonas. The president has been gunning for the finance minister since he was forced to appoint Gordhan. In December 2015, Zuma fired former finance minister, Nhlanhla Nene and replaced him with one of his cronies, Des van Rooyen – who had barely warmed the ministerial seat when Zuma had to give in to pressure and give Gordhan the job.

Pravin Gordhan

During his 15-month tenure, Gordhan steered the country through two ratings agencies reviews, avoiding the dreaded junk status, and put mechanisms in place to stabilise the country’s ailing economy.

The Treasury is the last castle in the bid for total state capture by Zuma and his puppet masters, the Guptas, and the Gordhan was the only obstacle standing in their way.

At the time of his firing, Gordhan was in the midst of a court battle with the Gupta-owned company, Oakbay Investment, saying he didn’t have the authority (nor did any minister for that matter) to intervene in the family’s dispute with four of the country’s big banks, which closed Oakbay’s accounts on the grounds of ‘suspicious’ activities last year. No doubt, that little problem will now disappear for the Guptas

Gordhan is replaced by former tourism minister, Malusi Gigaba. Remember him? He was responsible for the unabridged birth certificate bungle, which required minors entering and leaving the country to have the document. A decision which was hastily reversed, when it starting impacting on tourism revenue, one of the biggest contributors to the South African economy.

As expected, the markets have reacted badly to the news, and the rand has dipped significantly against the dollar and other major currencies in a matter of hours.