Finance minister Tito Mboweni has clarified a social media post which sparked speculation that he might be leaving office.
At the weekend, Mboweni tweeted that “it is good to retire gracefully” and not “overstay your time in office”.
Politics and Longevity. Political history shows that overstaying your time in office is bad. Unlike royalty, you may be ejected from State House in an undignified manner. It is good to retire gracefully.
— Tito Mboweni (@tito_mboweni) January 17, 2020
The tweet sent social media into a buzz, as some of his followers worried about his employment status.
dont tell me you thinking of leaving ,sa can then definitely turn off the lights
— arthur buchner (@arthurbuchner1) January 17, 2020
I hope you're referring to cadres like Gwede & not yourself?
— Auris (@auris123) January 17, 2020
You have run your race in a dignified principles manner,wish you luck in future endeavours if planning to resign/retire,history will judge you kindly,there is no longer ANC future,opportunistic charlatans has hijacked the movement.
— Tobesky (@Tobesky15) January 17, 2020
However, Mboweni told the SABC he was not going anywhere soon.
“Resigning from where? No, no, no. I was referring to heads of state who have overstayed their welcome. I'm not a head of state,” said Mboweni.
The tweet came after he recently got into hot water with the ANC after calling for a public debate on the party's resolution to nationalise the SA Reserve Bank (SARB).
Last week, Mboweni made Twitter's top trending list after he questioned what the ANC sought to achieve by nationalising the bank.
He also suggesting that there was no logic behind the exercise, as “90% of the SARB profits were handed over to the National Revenue Fund”.
TimesLIVE reported that the party's spokesperson, Pule Mabe, expressed concern over Mboweni's comments, saying he should act with care and be cautious at all times on matters of policy, given his position as minister of finance, including subjecting himself to the overall communications protocols of the ANC.
“Those who serve in leadership structures of our movement, especially within the national executive committee (NEC), the highest decision-making body in between conferences, are expected at all times to uphold and defend resolutions of the ANC on public platforms.”
