Tributes have poured in for former finance minister Tito Mboweni, with the ANC saying his life was one of “dedication, and selfless service sacrifice for the people of South Africa”.
President Cyril Ramaphosa and the SA Reserve Bank also expressed deep sadness at Mboweni's death.
Mboweni died on Saturday night after a short illness, his family said in a statement.
He was 65 years old.
While many younger people on social media remembered Mboweni for his garlic-fuelled, pilchard or/and chicken meals, he was the first labour minister for a democratic South Africa after he was appointed to Cabinet by former president Nelson Mandela in 1994.
In 1999, he would be appointed as the first black Reserve Bank Governor, a post he held for 10 years until 2009.
He would hold various positions in the private sector, before he returned as Finance Minister between October 2018 and 2021.
This after former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene was forced to resign under a cloud after he admitted to meeting with the controversial Gupta brothers at their home.
ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said Mboweni was “a critical architect of South Africa’s post-apartheid labour legislation laying the foundation for collective bargaining and establishing labour courts to uphold worker rights”.
Ramaphosa also paid tribute to Mboweni, saying his death came as a shock.
After his second stint as SARB governor, Mboweni would become a bit of a social media cooking sensation, with some referring to him as Mr Garlic.
This did not go unnoticed with Ramaphosa, who remarked about Mboweni’s cooking skills: “He conducted himself with expert rigour while maintaining the personable touch that made him a social media star and ambassador for Modjadjiskloof’s culinary traditions.”
The SA Reserve Bank extended its condolences to Mboweni’s family, friends, and colleagues.
“Mr Mboweni guided South Africa through periods of great uncertainty, with a steady hand on the economy during the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 as Governor, and later shepherding the country’s finances through the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic as Finance Minister,” the SARB said.
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