SA’s second-most powerful politician flexes his muscles
As Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana prepares to reveal his new board for the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), it is clear he is now in a position […]
As Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana prepares to reveal his new board for the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), it is clear he is now in a position to direct events. His actions at the PIC and in dealing with municipalities show he can make decisions, secure in the knowledge that he has presidential backing.
While it is never spelt out on a Cabinet organogram, a finance minister is usually the most powerful person in a democratic government after the president.
Their authority over the national fiscus gives them far more actual power than a deputy president or even a home affairs or international relations minister.
This was one of the reasons for the tension between former president Jacob Zuma and Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan at the height of the State Capture era. Gordhan had been put into that position by ANC figures trying to rein in Zuma after he overstepped with his Weekend Special appointment of Des van Rooyen.
Godongwana appears to have no such problem.
He was the first finance minister in 25 years to change the inflation target, he’s the first to steer a Budget through a coalition government and, more recently, he withheld municipalities’ equitable share at a scale not previously seen.
