South Africa's Jacob Zuma chooses new economic policy team for cabinet

Sebastien Berger Telegraph 05/11/2009 23:25

Former tax authority chief Pravin Gordhan is sworn in as finance minister at the presidential guest house in Pretoria Photo: REUTERS

President Jacob Zuma has sent his first signal about the future direction of South African policy by choosing a new cabinet with a new team to run economic policy. But the overall message is one of reassurance - the country's adherence to free market orthodoxy is highly unlikely to change - while there will be stronger emphasis on education and agriculture.

Anthony Butler, the professor of public policy at the University of Cape Town, predicted that the new finance minister, Pravin Gordhan, would ensure F"continuity" in economic policy.

Mr Gordhan is a member of the South African Communist Party (SACP), but his success in raising revenues during his previous job as head of the tax service were the key to the country's budget surpluses. The SACP functions more as a think-tank for the ruling African National Congress than an engine of revolution.

Other Left-wingers have some economic jobs, notably Ebrahim Patel, the new minister of economic development, and Rob Davies, the trade and industry minister. But Prof Butler said: "The Leftists who have been included in cabinet have been neutralised by the institutions that they are part of."

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