‘You were in London but claim to be a revolutionary?’ — Mboweni’s throwback snap gets Twitter buzzing

“During apartheid, you were in London? Then you claim to be a revolutionary?”

This is one of the remarks from social media users who reacted to a throwback pic posted on Twitter by former finance minister Tito Mboweni.

The retired minister this week traded in his cooking snaps for a picture of his young self, taken in 1985 in the UK.

“Who is this fellow? 1985 is the clue. In London,” Mboweni captioned the picture.

Mboweni lived in the UK in the 1980s after he left SA to pursue a master of arts degree in development economics at the University of East Anglia in England.

During his time abroad, he was “adopted” by Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) party member Liz Jackson and her late husband Peter.

Last year, Mboweni shared a picture of his “adoptive parents” in a touching note.

“Here they are my ‘adoptive’ UK ‘parents’ Peter and Liz Jackson. At our home in Derbyshire, near Sheffield, England countryside. The house is a converted barn. It’s like in Magoebaskloof. Peter has passed on. May his soul rest in eternal peace. Liz was a member of the CPGB for 4 years,” Mboweni wrote.

Mboweni’s throwback drew mixed reaction online, with some questioning why he had been in the UK instead of fighting apartheid like many other politicians.

Others commented on Mboweni’s “innocent” looks.

Here is a snapshot of some of the reactions.