Ramaphosa appointed Godongwana – chairman of the Development Bank of Southern Africa – on 5 August, after Tito Mboweni resigned.
“The business community knows him well. International investors are looking forward to working with him,” says Mesh Pillay, CEO of the YW Capital investment firm in Johannesburg. “He’s the right choice for the country. He ticks all the boxes.”
Godongwana is a “policymaker at heart” and his style is “softer and more understated” than that of Mboweni, Pillay says. The new minister is able to combine technical acumen and political skill, and will take a wide range of opinions into account as he formulates policy, he says.