South Africa’s finance minister, Nhlanhla Nene has resigned after admitting meeting members of the Gupta family, who have been accused of corruption and President Cyril Ramaphosa said he accepted the resignation “in the interest of good governance”.
The Guptas have been accused of working with former President Jacob Zuma to secure government contracts and determine cabinet appointments. Both the Guptas and Zuma deny the allegations.
Nene has been replaced by former central bank chief Tito Mboweni making it the fifth change of finance minister since 2014. Last week, Nene told a judge-led inquiry into the alleged influence of the Guptas, known as the Zondo commission, about meetings that he had previously denied.
There is no suggestion that he had done anything illegal in meeting the businessmen during his stint as deputy finance minister and finance minister in Mr Zuma’s government, but he has been under intense political pressure to step down since making the admission.
Zuma sacked him as finance minister in 2015, but he was reappointed by the current president in February.
