Nhlanhla nene biography of albert
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The Nene Saga: The Dismissal of cabinet ministers
The recent tendering, by the former South African Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene, of his resignation and its acceptance by President Cyril Ramaphosa is a manifest illustration of how our constitution, premised on the fundamental principle of executive accountability, should work in both theory and practice.
According to section 91(2) of South Africa’s constitution, the president appoints, inter alia, cabinet ministers, assigns their powers and functions and may dismiss them. Furthermore, as set out in section 92(2), members of the cabinet are accountable collectively and individually to parliament for the exercise of their powers and performance of their functions. They are obliged to ensure that their conduct is compatible with the constitution, and must provide parliament with complete and regular reports concerning all matters under their control, as elaborated in section 92(3). This gives rise to a system of responsible government, which is one of the definitive features of parliamentary government, involving both ministerial and collective cabinet responsibility, which our constitution provides for and which has its origin in Westminster system.
According to Professor Albert Venter in his book The Birth of a Nation indi
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'That was a dark moment in the history of our democracy', Ramaphosa on the firing of Nhlanhla Nene
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa was 'puzzled' by the firing of the then Minister of Finance Nhlanhla Nene.
Nene was abruptly fired by President Jacob Zuma on December 5 and replaced with an ANC backbencher Des van Rooyen who was also removed only four days in office following public outcry as well as negative reaction on the economy.
Van Rooyen was subsequently replaced by Pravin Gordhan.
Speaking on Power FM on Wednesday night, Ramaphosa said that he was not happy with Nene's removal and how it was handled.
"The way it was done, could've been handled a lot better. And what has ensued thereafter," he said.
Asked on allegations that he was fuming and threatened to quit following the news of Nene's removal from office, Ramaphosa laughed and said: "a number of people in government reacted in a variety of ways".
"But that was a real dark moment in the history of our democracy."
The firing of Nene is said to have 'robbed' the country's economy of a whooping Rmillion.