Tito Mboweni, South Africa’s First Black Central Bank Chief, Dies at 65

(Bloomberg) -- Tito Mboweni, who served as the first Black governor of South Africa’s central bank and later as finance minister, and was hailed for keeping inflation and public spending in check, has died. He was 65.

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The former governor died after a “short illness,” the South African Presidency said late Saturday. He passed away at a hospital in Johannesburg surrounded by his loved ones, Mboweni’s family said in a statement.

Mboweni served as labor minister in the cabinet appointed by President Nelson Mandela after apartheid ended in 1994. He was named central bank governor in 1999, a position he held for a decade, and was finance minister from October 2018 to August 2021.

“We have lost a leader and compatriot who has served our nation as an activist, economic policy innovator and champion of labor rights,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said. “As governor and finance minister, he had a sharp focus on fiscal discipline and economic transformation.”

In addition to his political roles, Mboweni was a founding member of a private investment company, and served as an adviser in South Africa for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. He was chairman of AngloGold Ashanti Ltd., formerly the world’s biggest gold producer, and sat on the boards of other companies.

Mboweni was born on March 16, 1959, in the northern South African town of Tzaneen. He went into exile during apartheid and trained as an economist.

He obtained a BA in economics and political science from the National University of Lesotho in 1985, according to the central bank. In 1987, he obtained an MA in development economics from the University of East Anglia in England.

Mboweni served for four years as labor minister, a period in which he oversaw the implementation of a raft of new laws to protect worker rights.

Conservative Policy

As central bank governor, Mboweni fought to protect the institution’s independence in the face of criticism about the impact of the strong rand on the competitiveness of South Africa’s exports.

Mboweni established a reputation for being conservative on monetary policy. He was a fierce defender of inflation targeting that was introduced the year after he took office and which drew opprobrium from labor unions.

Among his other achievements at the central bank was the rebuilding of South Africa’s foreign-exchange reserves to almost $40 billion from less than $10 billion.

“He was a passionate central banker and played a key role in building the SARB into the professional, formidable and purposeful organization it is today,” the central bank said on Sunday.

Mboweni was a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, the party’s highest decision-making body.

He was named finance minister by Ramaphosa after pledge by the president to combat government corruption and rebuild investor confidence following an era of endemic corruption — known as state capture — under his predecessor, Jacob Zuma.

As central bank governor, Mboweni deserves credit for implementing its successful inflation-targeting policy and establishing its credibility, Isaac Matshego, senior economist at lender Nedbank Group Ltd. said.

Restored Credibility

“As finance minister, he continued in the same vein, carrying on where Pravin Gordhan led in restoring credibility to a National Treasury that had faced a threat of being captured,” Matshego said. Gordhan, who died last month, served as finance minister from December 2015 to March 2017.

After retiring from politics, Mboweni developed a following on social media, regularly posting images of meals he’d cooked including garlic-rich tinned fish and spiced chicken dishes.

He became known on X as the Duke of Magoebaskloof, a lush, mountainous region near Tzaneen where he lived, regularly posting photos of local sceneray to encourage tourism.

Mboweni’s family said it would release further details about his passing in the coming days.

--With assistance from S'thembile Cele.

(Updates with economist comment from 15th paragraph.)

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