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By Sihle Mavuso 
9h ago
Durban – The EFF has given Finance Minister Tito Mboweni seven days to fire former Sunday Times political journalist Ranjeni Munusamy.
In a tweet, Mboweni shared a screenshot of a virtual meeting of his team. The minister was red-faced when some Twitter users noticed that Munusamy was among the seven-person team in the screenshot (excluding Mboweni).
“MTBPS speech writing core team meeting today, October 20, 2020, to work on how to frame the speech. This is how it works: according to the fiscal framework of the Cabinet budget, different teams of the National Treasury write chapters in the large document, the central team writes the speech ”, reads Mboweni’s tweet.
The EFF issued a statement Wednesday saying it was inconceivable that Mboweni hired Munusamy when he had not yet cleared his name regarding allegations that he illegally profited from abuse of the country’s criminal intelligence fund.
The party’s statement added to the mounting uproar over Mboweni’s decision to hire the journalist, who in her career sparked controversy and changed loyalty between ANC factions.
Some Twitter users questioned how Mboweni could employ Munusamy when, in September last year, Colonel Kobus Roelofse, a police investigator, told the state capture commission that he improperly benefited from rampant abuse of the criminal intelligence fund. .
Roelofse was investigating the abuse, which allegedly occurred under the supervision of Richard Mdluli, when he received information that around 2008, Munusamy ran into financial difficulties. As a result, the money from the fund was used to pay a vehicle debt of R143 621.78 to WesBank Vehicle Finance.
In his call, the EFF, which has a tense history with Munusamy, said he must go.
“We demand that the Finance Minister immediately terminate any contractual and employment relationship with Ranjeni Munusamy, until the allegations, so far strong and credible, have been clarified beyond a reasonable doubt. We give the Minister seven days to discontinue the employment of Ranjeni Munusamy or we will approach the relevant authorities and institutions to do so on his behalf, ”the party said.
Meanwhile, the spokesman for the national treasury, Mashudu Masutha, said Munusamy worked in Mboweni’s office, not in the department.
“Ms. Ranjeni Munusamy is appointed in the Finance Ministry as a community outreach officer. It is the minister’s prerogative that she appoints to her team according to the prescriptions of the ministerial manual,” Mashudu said when asked about the controversial job.
Mboweni had not yet responded to Independent Media’s questions about why it deemed it appropriate to hire Munusamy.
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