The man who decides how to spend your tax money

From his roots as a trade unionist to his long-standing career as a politician, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana now holds the most important role in South Africa’s cabinet.

His background in politics and business has made him uniquely qualified to hold the position of Finance Minister, who is in charge of tabling the country’s Budget every year.

Godongwana was born in 1957 in Cala, in the former Cape Province, now part of the Eastern Cape. He attended school in the same province and matriculated at St John’s College in Mthatha.

He is one of few ministers in the current cabinet with an educational background that aligns with his portfolio, having completed an MSc in financial economics at the University of London in 1998.

He entered politics in 1979 when he worked as a shop steward for the Metal and Allied Workers’ Union. He later became an organiser for the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) from 1983 to 1989. 

His leadership qualities led him to serve as NUMSA’s regional secretary between 1990 and 1993 and subsequently as its national general secretary from 1993 to 1997. 

During this period, he was also a member of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) executive committee from 1992 to 1997 and the chairperson of the union’s economic development task force. 

The Financial Mail describes Godongwana as a consensus-seeker with deep political capital, crediting him with bringing Numsa, a notoriously militant union, “into the Cosatu fold”.

Godongwana’s strong track record aided his transition into governmental roles.

His political influence expanded as he was elected to the African National Congress (ANC) National Executive Committee (NEC) in 1997, making him a true ANC stalwart.

The Mail&Guardian reported that his ties to the left wing of the Tripartite Alliance – an alliance between the ANC, COSATU and the South African Communist Party (SACP) – created tension with the ANC’s incumbent national leadership.

Despite this, he rose in prominence in the Provincial Executive Committee of the ANC in the Eastern Cape.

He was appointed Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Finance, Economic Affairs, Environment, and Tourism in the Eastern Cape from 1997 to 2004. 

This is where his future as Finance Minister started to show. Between 1998 and 2002, Godongwana instituted a “single government chequebook” in the provincial government.

This reduced other departments’ ability to pursue discretionary spending, which led to improved audit outcomes and facilitated spending cutbacks.

His large portfolio was divided after the April 2004 general election, and he became MEC for Finance alone.

However, trouble arose soon after as, a few months later, he was sacked from this position amidst an alleged probe into financial irregularities.

While details surrounding these claims are uncertain, the media reported in 2008 that Godongwana and others were implicated in a report on maladministration and corruption in their respective departments.

However, Godongwana and the other accused rejected this report’s findings and took it to court. In May 2005, the Grahamstown High Court discarded the report on review.

Following this dramatic exit from the provincial government, Godongwana served as head of the Financial Sector Charter Council.

During this time, he also managed various personal business interests, which is where his business acumen truly shined.

By 2009, Godongwana was a director of 24 companies, including the state-owned defence industrial group Denel, Real People Assurance Company, Chintsa River Development and the Pan African insurance group.

However, he resigned from all his directorships in 2009 when former President Jacob Zuma selected Godongwana for his cabinet.

He served as Deputy Minister of Public Enterprises from 2009 to 2010 and as Deputy Minister of Economic Development, which was newly created after the 2009 election, from 2010 to 2012. 

However, like many ministers who formed part of Zuma’s cabinet, Godongwana’s time under the former president was not without controversy.

Godongwana chaired Canyon Springs Investments 12, a shell company he jointly owned 50% of with his wife through a family trust.

Canyon Springs was found to be involved in allegedly defrauding clothing factory workers of R100 million of their pension fund money from 2007 until 2011.

The Mail&Guardian reported that Godongwana allegedly received an annual salary of R1.5 million but only received payments totalling R600,000 when the company had funds. 

The company’s records did not reflect his full salary, which he attributed to poor bookkeeping.

His R1.5 million salary was found to be drawn from money loaned by the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (Sactwu) to the company, which was never returned to the union. 

Godongwana claimed to be unaware of the company’s money sources.

Richard Kawie and Sam Buthelezi, other co-owners of Canyons Springs, had fraud cases opened against them for not repaying the union’s loan.

Regardless of Godongwana’s knowledge of this controversy, he resigned as Deputy Finance Minister in January 2012, citing his desire to “pursue personal interests”.

He also resigned from the National Assembly with effect from 31 December 2011.

Godongwana insisted that his resignation was not related to the Canyon Springs controversy, saying that he had realised he would be busy with “party work” in 2012.

The Canyon Springs liquidation inquiry was concluded in 2017, when, according to Sactwu, Godongwana reached a settlement which saw him repay the union with interest.

For the decade after, Godongwana was not a part of legislative politics. However, this does not mean he was not busy during this time, as he held non-executive directorships at several companies.

This included the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), the New Development Bank, Mondi, Platinum Group Metals, and several other companies.

He was also a visiting fellow at the Wits School of Governance from 2018 to 2021.

Godongwana made his grand return to politics in August 2021 when President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed him as South Africa’s Finance Minister. 

He succeeded Tito Mboweni, and his appointment was initially met with severe scepticism, as the rand lost value after the announcement.

However, the rand recovered quickly, starting Godongwana’s reputation as one of South Africa’s most market-friendly Finance Ministers.

In his first Medium-Term Budget Speech in November 2021, a month after his appointment, Godongwana emphasised fiscal discipline.

He announced a policy of “tough love” towards South Africa’s struggling state-owned enterprises, including Eskom. 

This proved an excellent start to Godongwana’s career as Finance Minister, as he became known as a staunch supporter of fiscal discipline.

Since his appointment, Godongwana’s yearly Budget presentations have largely been met with support.

Experts broadly recognise the minister for his pragmatic approach to economic policy, balancing fiscal discipline with South Africa’s socio-economic needs.