Former finance minister Tito Mboweni has resigned from parliament, almost six months since he was removed from the national executive in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s past cabinet reshuffle.
Hours after the end of his political career was confirmed, property fund company Accelerate issued a statement saying he had been appointed as an independent non-executive director and chair.
Mboweni, who also spent a decade running the central bank between 1999 and 2009, remained in parliament after he was replaced by Enoch Godongwana at the finance ministry in early August 2021. Until his resignation on Monday, he had been a member of parliament’s water & sanitation portfolio committee.
Parliament confirmed in a tweet on Monday that Mboweni handed in his resignation to speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, and that it was effective on Monday. His resignation means the ANC will have to replace him as a member by choosing from its party lists.
Ramaphosa announced Mboweni’s departure from the cabinet in August 2021, during the reshuffle that came in the wake of the violence and looting that rocked KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in July.
“I have accepted a long-standing request by minister Tito Mboweni to be excused from his position as minister of finance,” Ramaphosa said at the time.
Mboweni served as the minister of labour in Nelson Mandela’s cabinet between 1994 and 1998, before he was tapped to move to the SA Reserve Bank as special adviser to then-governor Chris Stals, a move that was seen as preparation for him taking over. He became the eighth governor and the first black person to lead the institution in 1999, serving two terms.
After the end of his time at the Bank, he took various private sector positions, including serving as an international adviser of Goldman Sachs International and chairing AngloGold Ashanti and Nampak.
Mboweni will replace Tim Fearnhead as chair, effective from Tuesday, Accelerate said in a statement. “The board of directors of Accelerate would like to thank Mr Fearnhead for the many years of service and dedication,” it said.
He made a spectacular return to government after Nhlanhla Nene quit as finance minister in October 2018, having admitted to attending undeclared meetings with members of the Gupta family, who are accused of facilitating industrial-scale corruption during the Jacob Zuma presidency.
After accepting Nene’s resignation “in the interests of good governance”, Ramaphosa turned to Mboweni, who never hid his reluctance to take the position and give up lucrative positions in the private sector.
Mboweni couldn’t be reached for comment by Monday night.
Update: January 31 2022
This story has been updated with new information
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