Tito Mboweni calls for prime minister position in SA

Former finance minister Tito Mboweni had tongues wagging this week when he took to Twitter to call for a change in the constitution. 

Among the changes he suggested was the role of prime minister to serve alongside the president.

He said these changes could be brought about by bringing political parties around the table and discussing what was needed in the country.

“We really and truly require a multiparty conversation and agreement on changing our constitution. Why? We need president and prime minister roles to be enshrined in the constitution,” he wrote.

He urged those who disagreed with him to “think. Don’t howl”.

SA used to have an office of the prime minister under apartheid, but this was done away with in constitutional reform in 1984 and was effectively merged with the role of president. The prime minister was the country’s leading political figure.

Mboweni’s followers weighed in on the idea, with some calling for a president who put the country ahead of his party, and others saying they have enough political headaches as it is.