We owe Thabo Mbeki an apology

Residents burned his house and chased him out of the township, barricaded streets, burned buildings and brought schooling to a halt. Yes, that is the new minister of finance David Van Rooyen. Who exactly is this man and why has Jacob Zuma appointed him to Finance.

As mayor of Merafong Municipality, some say he did an excellent job, and the rumours of bad governance, debt and mismanagement are tucked away. A man with shoddy qualifications.

ABOUT DAVID DOUGLAS DES VAN ROOYEN (ISSUED BY THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (ANC) RULING PARTY.

Mr Van Rooyen got involved in politics in the mid - the 1980s. He was an MK operative and soldier, and held various leadership positions in COSAS, Khutsong Student Congress, UDF Representative, NUM Member. He also held some leadership positions in the ANC from 1994 to 2007. Mr Van Rooyen holds an Advanced Business Management Diploma, a Diploma in Municipal Governance, a certificate in Municipal Governance, a certificate in Councilor Development, a Certificate in Municipal Finance, a certificate in Economic & Public Finance and a Master’s Degree in Public Development and Management. The University of London conferred an MSc Finance (Economic Policy) to Mr Van Rooyen on 30 July 2014. He recently acquired a certificate in Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management from UNISA. He has personal interests in soccer, golf, tennis, reading and hunting. Source: (anc.org.za)

President Jacob Zuma has the power to replace his players whenever it becomes a necessity to bolster his backline, midline and frontline defence. Replacing Nene is not a winning combination for the ruling party. Perhaps Nene was a threat when he cautioned the excessive state spending or the latest rumpus in the South African Airways (SAA). SAA chaired by members of the Zuma Foundation, and Nene was adamant that the Airbus deal was not in the best interests of the country. The nuclear deal was another matter that Nene had reservations about.

Now we have another Zuma puppet who will take instructions from the man himself, find the money for the ZAR 4 Million jet, the zillions for the nuclear deal, and allow state spending to spiral out of control. Pushing the economy of South Africa into a junk status.

It might be Zuma’s prerogative to appoint fire or hire ministers, and that means he should be held accountable for the people he places in positions of power. The timing is a major concern while the country is on the brink of disaster. Zuma replaces Nene (a reasonably competent person) with a relatively unknown comrade. Investors will not be happy with this move.

 Zuma has messed up again. Zuma must be impeached, but that would be a problem as the ANC hold the majority votes and would not act against the man who has enriched the powerful circle of friends. Zuma is turning into a dictator and needs to be stopped.

We owe Thabo Mbeki an apology.