Thread by @CyrilRamaphosa

On the evening of 9 December 2015, former President Zuma announced the removal of Mr Nene and the appointment of Mr Van Rooyen.

This had an immediate impact on the financial markets. Shortly after Mr van Rooyen was sworn in, then Director-General of National Treasury, Mr Lungisa Fuzile, asked to meet me urgently.

He expressed grave concern, based on his interaction with the new Minister and his advisors, about the impact this development would have on the ability of National Treasury to properly exercise its functions.

Concerned by what I considered the ‘capture’ of National Treasury, I contact ANC Deputy Secretary General Ms Jessie Duarte and indicated that I would resign my position as Deputy President of the Republic. I believe that Ms Duarte conveyed my message to the then-President.

There was a flurry of consultations that involved some of the ANC officials expressing disquiet about the appointment of Mr Des van Rooyen.

The then ANC Secretary General Mr Gwede Mantashe, Ms Duarte and I urged the President to appoint Mr Pravin Gordhan as Minister of Finance instead, as this would be in the best interests of the country and would help to calm the financial markets.

I believe the decision by President Zuma to replace Mr van Rooyen with Mr Gordhan was critical in preventing further damage to the economy and safeguarding the integrity of National Treasury.

There were other instances, which I detail in my statement, where it was necessary to make public statements on decisions which I considered contrary to the national interests.

One such instance was the removal of Mr Gordhan and Mr Mcebisi Jonas as Minister and Deputy Minister of Finance respectively on 30 March 2017.

At the meeting when former President Zuma informed the ANC Officials of his decision, I raised my concern that the Minister and the Deputy Minister were being removed based on an unsubstantiated intelligence report.

I told the former President that I disagreed with his reasons and that I would publicly state my objection.

While I reiterated that the President has the constitutional prerogative to appoint and dismiss members of the Cabinet, I felt it necessary to speak out, especially because of the serious consequences this decision had on our economy and our country.