Tito Titus Mboweni
(born 16 March 1959) is a South African politician who served as Minister of Finance of
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
in the government of
President
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*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Cyril Ramaphosa
Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician who is currently serving as the fifth democratically elected president of South Africa. Formerly an anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader, and ...
from 2018 to 2021.
Mboweni was the eighth Governor of the
South African Reserve Bank
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is the central bank of South Africa. It was established in 1921 after Parliament passed an act, the "Currency and Bank Act of 10 August 1920", as a direct result of the abnormal monetary and financial condit ...
and the first Black South African to hold the post. He was sworn in as Minister of Finance on 9 October 2018, following
Nhlanhla Nene
Nhlanhla Musa Nene ( tɬantɬa born 5 December 1958) served as the Minister of Finance of South Africa under President Jacob Zuma from 25 May 2014 until his controversial removal on 9 December 2015, and under President Cyril Ramaphosa from 27 Fe ...
's resignation.
Mboweni is a founding member of Mboweni Brothers Investment Holdings and a former international advisor of
Goldman Sachs International
Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
.
He has been appointed as a non executive Director for South Africa at the New Development Bank (BRICS Development Bank).
Early life and career
The youngest of three children, Tito Mboweni was born on 16 March 1959. He grew up in
Tzaneen
Tzaneen () is a large tropical garden town situated in the Mopani District Municipality of the Limpopo province in South Africa. It is situated in a high rainfall fertile region with tropical and subtropical agriculture taking place in a region. ...
in the Limpopo Province. He attended the
University of the North
The University of Limpopo is a university in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2005, by the merger of the University of the North and the Medical University of South Africa (MEDUNSA). These previous institutions for ...
between 1979 and 1980, where he registered for a Bachelor of Commerce degree. He did not complete his studies there and left South Africa to go into exile in 1980.
While in exile in Lesotho, Mboweni joined the
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...
(ANC), South Africa's current governing party, and was an activist for the party in many capacities. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in economics and political science from the
National University of Lesotho
The National University of Lesotho, the main and oldest university in Lesotho, is located in Roma, southeast of Maseru, the capital of Lesotho. The Roma valley is broad and is surrounded by a barrier of rugged mountains which provides magnifi ...
in 1985. In 1988 he obtained a Master of Arts in Development Economics from the
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...
in England.
Political career
Prior to his appointment as Minister of Labour, Mboweni was Deputy Head of the Department of Economic Policy in the ANC. He also represented the ANC on several domestic and international platforms. Mboweni was a member of the ANC's National Executive and National Working Committees and was also Chairperson of the National Executive Committee's Economic Transformation Committee, which coordinated the development of ANC economic policies.
Mboweni served as Minister of Labour from May 1994 to July 1998 in
South African President
The president of South Africa is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of South Africa and is the commander-in-chief of the South African Natio ...
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
's cabinet. While Minister of Labour Mboweni was the architect of South Africa's post-Apartheid labour legislation,
which allowed for collective bargaining and the establishment of labour courts.
[Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo (October 10, 2018)]
Ex-central banker Mboweni takes on South Africa's hobbling economy
''Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was estab ...
''. He became one of the
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...
s Global Leaders of Tomorrow in 1995.
In 1997 Mboweni was appointed head of the ANC's Policy Department which was responsible for managing ANC policy processes. Upon joining the
South African Reserve Bank
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is the central bank of South Africa. It was established in 1921 after Parliament passed an act, the "Currency and Bank Act of 10 August 1920", as a direct result of the abnormal monetary and financial condit ...
, he resigned all of his elected and appointed positions in the ANC.
Mboweni joined the
South African Reserve Bank
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is the central bank of South Africa. It was established in 1921 after Parliament passed an act, the "Currency and Bank Act of 10 August 1920", as a direct result of the abnormal monetary and financial condit ...
in July 1998 as Advisor to the Governor. On 8 August 1999 he succeeded
Dr. Chris Stals as Governor of the Reserve Bank. As governor, he oversaw the launch of the inflation targeting policy to help the bank achieve price stability and dealt with the rand's plunge due to global and local events.
During his tenure, Mboweni was appointed honorary Professor of Economics at the
University of South Africa
The University of South Africa (UNISA), known colloquially as Unisa, is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, U ...
for 2000 to 2003. The Governor was also elected Chancellor of the
University of the North-West
af , Noordwes-Universiteit
, image = https://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/NWU-Logo-SW.png
, motto = ''Dit Begin Alles Hier (Afrikaans)''
''Gotlhe Go Simolola Fano (Setswana)''
, mottoeng ...
and was installed as Chancellor on 23 February 2002. The
University of Stellenbosch
Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...
appointed the Governor Professor Extraordinary in Economics for the period 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2005.
Career in the private sector
In June 2010, Mboweni was appointed an International Adviser of
Goldman Sachs International
Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
, where he provided strategic advice to the firm on business development opportunities, with a particular focus on
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
and
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
. He also served as chairman of bullion producer
AngloGold Ashanti
AngloGold Ashanti Limited is a global gold mining company. It was formed in 2004 by the merger of AngloGold and the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation. It is now a global gold producer with 21 operations on four continents. The company is listed ...
, among other company directorships.
Minister of Finance, 2018–2021
On 9 October 2018, Mboweni was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa as the new Minister of Finance of the Republic of South Africa with immediate effect
following Nhlanhla Nene's resignation. From the beginning of his tenure Mboweni often found himself at odds with the ruling ANC policy and ideology. The ruling ANC has always inclined itself towards socialist policies, a stance which has been viewed as a form of appeasing its alliance partners, the South African Communist Party and COSATU. On the other hand, Mboweni has continuously proffered liberal solutions such as his 2019 economic recovery growth plan which has been rejected by SACP and COSATU.
His economic growth plan was widely criticised in the Public Sector. In an opinion piece, Telkom Group CEO Sipho Maseko slammed Mboweni's proposed reforms for the ICT sector, particularly plans related to the rollout of spectrum, as being "ill-thought-out". However the response was different in the private sector, CEO of Bridgement Daniel Goldberg during his Sage tour to Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban hailed the plan, saying "it will improve the rate at which big state owned enterprises pays its suppliers consequently increasing efficiency in the economy. Phumlani Majozi in his opinion piece on Finance 24 argued that "Mboweni's ideas on how to revamp this economy, presented in his recent paper, titled "Economic Transformation, Inclusive Growth and Competitiveness: Towards an Economic Strategy for South Africa", are what will get this country back on track."
In June 2020, Mboweni proposed a new
austerity
Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spend ...
policy, to cut the state's wage bill of
R160.2 billion over three years and to adopt a
Zero-based budget system in order to avoid a
sovereign debt crisis
A sovereign default is the failure or refusal of the
government of a sovereign state to pay back its debt in full when due. Cessation of due payments (or receivables) may either be accompanied by that government's formal declaration that it wi ...
in 2024.
On 5 August 2021, Mboweni resigned as finance minister. He was succeeded in the post by
Enoch Godongwana
Enoch Godongwana (born 9 June 1957) is a South African politician who has been serving as the Minister of Finance of South Africa in the government of President Cyril Ramaphosa since August 2021. He is also the former head of the African Nationa ...
.
Joining the private sector
On 31 January 2022, Mboweni resigned as an ANC Member of the National Assembly to take up a position in the private sector. He has been appointed as chairman and independent non-executive director of Accelerate, a property fund company.
Other activities
*
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2018–2021)
* Joint World Bank-IMF Development Committee, Member (2018–2021)
*
Asia School of Business
Asia School of Business (ASB) is a partnership between MIT Sloan School of Management and Bank Negara Malaysia (the Central Bank of Malaysia). The partnership is a business school offering business administration related courses in the form of ...
, Member of the Board of Governors (since 2015)
Recognition
* 2015 – Honorary professor, School of Economic and Business Sciences at the
University of the Witwatersrand
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...
* 2001 – Honorary Doctorate of Economics,
University of Natal
The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu-N ...
Controversy
In August 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa “strongly reprimanded” Mboweni over comments he made on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
about the dismissal of Zambia’s central bank governor
Denny Kalyalya. In a statement, the presidency explained that “in one of his tweets, Minister Mboweni is promising to mobilise if not given reasons why the Central (bank) Governor has been fired,” citing the need for central bank independence.
[Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo (August 24, 2020)]
South Africa's Ramaphosa reprimands finance minister over tweets on Zambia
''Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was estab ...
''.
References
External links
Tito Mboweni biography at
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...
site, retrieved 2008-08-20
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mboweni, Tito
1959 births
Living people
African National Congress politicians
Alumni of the University of East Anglia
AngloGold Ashanti
Finance ministers of South Africa
Goldman Sachs people
Government ministers of South Africa
Governors of the South African Reserve Bank
National University of Lesotho alumni
People from Tzaneen
20th-century South African economists
Members of the National Assembly of South Africa
21st-century South African economists