Nhlanhla Nene was removed from his position as Finance minister on Wednesday, after President Jacob Zuma released a statement saying he would be deployed to another strategic position.

Zuma has yet to indicate where Nene will be going however he has appointed a Member of Parliament, David Van Rooyen, as the new Minister of Finance.

The combination of Nene’s removal and the appointment of a relatively unknown Member of Parliament as the new minister saw the rand nosedive to R15 to the US dollar.

Van Rooyen rises from the ashes

Van Rooyen, former mayor of Merafong Municipality, graduated with a Masters in Economic Policy from the University of London last year and also holds diplomas in Advanced Business Management and Municipal Governance according to the ANC.

He resigned from his position as mayor in 2009 citing his redeployment to the nation assembly as the reason.

Van Rooyen’s residential property was burnt down after the local government election in 2006, when irate residents turned on their councillor, forcing him to flee the area.

Residents in Merafong boycotted the local government election in March 2006 in protest against the inclusion of Merafong into North West from Gauteng.

They barricaded streets, burnt buildings and brought schooling to a halt. The protests led to government backtracking on the 2005 decision to include Merafong into North West.

–Reuters, EWN, OFM, infrastructurene.ws