Ramaphosa’s massive cabinet reshuffle – including a new finance minister

Newly-elected president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has announced his new cabinet in a press briefing.

In his late night reshuffle, Ramaphosa said that government will retain its existing ministries and departments until a review is made at a later date.

However he still made a number of significant changes, notably the announcement of David Mabuza as deputy-president, the reshuffling of Malusi Gigaba as finance minister, and the re-introduction of Pravin Gordhan into cabinet.

Nhlanhla Nene was re-appointed as finance minister, marking a dramatic comeback after being sacked by former president Jacob Zuma in 2015.

The shakeup comes 11 days after Ramaphosa was elected president, replacing Zuma, who was forced to resign amid pressure from the ANC.

Nene served as deputy finance minister before taking over the post of finance chief from Pravin Gordhan in 2014 and won the respect of investors before his firing.

Since then he’s taken up a position on the board of fund manager Allan Gray, become an adviser to Thebe Investment and served as temporary head of the University of Witwatersrand’s Business School, bloomberg reported.

Nene will spearhead efforts to revive an economy that only grew about 1% last year, drive down a 27% unemployment rate and rebuild investor confidence that was badly damaged during Zuma’s scandal-marred nine-year tenure.

“The reappointment of Nhlanhla Nene is a positive step in rebuilding South Africa’s fiscal credibility,” Andrew Canter, chief investment officer at Futuregrowth Asset Management told Bloomberg.

“Ultimately, South Africa’s renewal lies in the ability get economic growth and opportunity back on track.”

Gordhan was named as minister of public enterprises, Gigaba returned to his former post of minister of home affairs, while Lindiwe Sisulu will become foreign minister.

This is the list of Ramaphosa’s new cabinet members: