EFF STATEMENT ON NATIONAL TREASURY DEPUTY DIRECTOR GENERAL MOMONIAT ISMAIL

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

The Economic Freedom Fighters reasserts the statement made in the Standing Committee on Finance by the EFF Deputy President that National Treasury Deputy Director General Momoniat undermines and disregards African leadership in the National Treasury. Momoniat has assigned to himself virtually all powers of National Treasury, micromanages its entities and also try to micromanage Parliamentary legislative processes.

Momoniat has no regard for black, particularly African leadership in National Treasury and this includes his disrespect of Director General and African Ministers and Deputy Ministers. To him, leadership that deserves respect is only those of Indian, Coloured or White origin. In virtually everything that National Treasury does, Momoniat dictates.

For example, the whole process of drafting the so-called twin peaks legislation, the Financial Services Regulation Act was micromanaged by Momoniat. National Treasury’s submissions to the Transformation of the Financial Sector was almost exclusively micromanaged by Momoniat, assisted by Consultants who were not appropriately appointed. Whenever SARS comes to present in Parliament, Momoniat brings a parallel report, which always paints a bleak portrayal of African leadership in entities under National Treasury. When the South African Reserve Bank appears in Parliament, it is Momoniat who brings a parallel report and speaks like he owns the Bank.

When the Standing Committee on Finance first called for the Curator of VBS Bank to appear before Parliament, it was Momo who instructed the Curator not to come and even said that why did the committee invite the Curator without his knowledge. Virtually all activities and programmes of National Treasury are micromanaged and directed by Momoniat and the DG, who’s an African leader with experience in the National Treasury is sidelined from key decisions. 

The Regulations of the Financial Services Conduct Authority were written and submitted by Momoniat to the exclusion of the minister whom by last is supposed to be tabled by the Minister. In these regulations, Momoniat replaced all reference to the Minister with DDG, referring to himself as a person who will play National Treasury role in the FSCA. 

The EFF has recurrently questioned the power to Momoniat, who is de facto Minister of Finance because he does not recognize the African leadership that is leading National Treasury. Other DDGs rarely take any decision, whilst Momoniat is responsible for virtually everything in National Treasury. 

The exaggerated struggle credentials that Momoniat reportedly has are not an entitlement to undermining African leadership in National Treasury. There are many people who use struggle credentials to undermine blacks and Africans in particular, and we will never stop criticizing such because they were involved in the struggle. 

The EFF calls on the Minister of Finance, the DG and President to assert authority and reclaim National Treasury from one individual. The ANC seems to have internalized a reactionary and self-hate reality that only minorities must be in charge of issues that relate to money and finances. This explains why of the 8 provinces under the ANC government, only two people of African descent are MECs of Finance, and the rest are either white or part of the minorities. 

Key economic institutions in the cabinet and the State are led by minorities because the ANC spreads a notion that black African brothers and sisters are incapable of running the economy. That is why minorities undermine African leadership in National Treasury and act as de facto

Ministers of finance because the whole organization has no confidence in Africans. Where ever an African is deployed, a representative of the minority is deployed to supervise and basically preside over such a deployment.

The permanent solution to the ANC’s collective mediocrity, incapacity, incompetence and cowardice will be finally defeated in the 2019 general elections by voting the EFF into power. What is happening now is unacceptable.

Statement issued by the Economic Freedom Fighters, 5 June 2018