EFF pays tribute to Mboweni, says he opened himself to scrutiny

JOHANNESBURG - The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has hailed the late Finance Minister Tito Mboweni as a key architect behind South Africa's post-apartheid economic policies.

The party says although it often disagreed with his neoliberal views on economic policy, Mboweni was always open to robust debate on their differences.  

Mboweni's family announced his shock passing on Saturday evening, three years since quitting Cabinet.

The EFF said while they often differed with Mboweni’s policy direction in his last government posting as Finance Minister, it respected that he always subjected himself to scrutiny as a member of Cabinet.

READ: Mboweni's last piece of advice to the GNU

"Notably, our former Reserve Bank governor advocated for the creation of a state-owned bank, a sovereign wealth fund, and the nationalisation of the South African Reserve Bank. He articulated this as a social media post which became a defining point in our debate with him," said EFF spokesperson, Leigh-Ann Mathys.

Once joking on x about chickens who had entered his farmhouse uninvited as having EFF tendencies, Mboweni often challenged the party in parliament - especially when he was questioned about policy and treasury decisions during a debate in 2019.

"If you want your ideological positions to govern, you first have to win elections. So you can’t expect the eff ideological position to be that of the ANC [African National Congress], it’s not. So, you have to win elections first and maybe manage Johannesburg better," Mboweni said at the time.

In an x post in August, Mboweni cautioned against celebrating the EFF's poor election showing and said like them or not, the party has an important role to play.