Gigaba’s adviser should have known, we warned him, says Ndlozi

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) national spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi has taken to social media to share his opinion on the whole Professor Chris Malikane and Minister of Finance Malusi Gigaba debacle that has been playing out in public.

Malikane, an economics professor from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), called for the “expropriation of white monopoly capitalist establishments such as banks, insurance companies, mines and other monopoly industries to industrialise the economy”.

His public call received another backlash from Gigaba, who distanced himself from Malikane’s statements.

“The Ministry of Finance would like to place on record that the opinion piece by adviser to the Minister of Finance Professor Chris Malikane was written in his personal capacity as an academic and activist. The views expressed in the opinion piece are not necessarily government policy,” Gigaba said in a statement.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Gigaba reiterated his words when he said he was the only minister of finance and that an adviser’s job was not to impose their advice on the minister.

“I am the minister, not anybody else. Advisers are advisers, they’re not the minister and they don’t impose their advice on the minister, they only provide technical advice. Professor Malikane is an academic, and perhaps you need to understand that fact firstly; secondly, he is an adviser and not the minister.

“I am the minister, I am my own man. I take my own decisions. The technical advice he provides must and will never detract from the policies of the African National Congress, which don’t entail nationalisation of the banks and land. Secondly, I take my cues from the policies of government,” he said.

However, Ndlozi said it was unacceptable for Gigaba to lash out at Malikane like that.

“That’s a professor for crying out loud!”

The most painful part about this issue is that his party had previously warned Malikane against advising a “puppet”.

“Prof should have known, we warned him!” Ndlozi said.

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