Godongwana set to step down from ANC role to focus on Treasury – report

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana is reportedly planning to step down from his role as the chairperson of the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) subcommittee on economic transformation.

Godongwana is leaving the influential position, which deals with the ANC’s economic policy formulation, to focus on running the National Treasury, Sunday Times Daily reported on Monday.

He was appointed South Africa’s minister of finance in August during President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Cabinet shuffle.

According to the report, sources said Godongwana had already communicated to ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte his intention to step down.

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The minister is apparently interested in grooming younger members of the economic policy subcommittee to take over from him.

“It has been my stated position even before joining government that there’s a need to push younger people into active leadership roles in the ANC. We don’t have a smooth transition in the ANC,” Godongwana was quoted as saying.

Last Thursday, Godongwana tabled his maiden Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) in Parliament since taking over the reins from his predecessor, Tito Mboweni.

Godongwana pledged to accelerate structural reforms to bolster economic growth and address the deterioration in public finances.

He said government was targeting “concrete” reform success by the time of Ramaphosa’s next state of the nation address (Sona) next year.

“We mean business,” Godongwana said. “My challenge at the moment is to push for us to develop a track record of implementation. Once we do that, we’re going to begin to develop credibility.”

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