David van Rooyen
Photo by: Duane Daws
While disappointment has been expressed in many quarters at President Jacob Zuma’s decision to sack finance minister Nhlanhla Nene, all eyes will turn to focus on the man who was sworn in on Thursday to take over the hot seat.
David Douglas Des Van Rooyen, who was sworn in as finance minister in Pretoria on Thursday, is already being closely scrutinised and everyone is watching to see of he reverses any key decisions taken by his predecessor.
The attention given to South Africa’s nuclear building programme and the question of whether South African Airways board chairperson Dudu Myeni will be allowed to proceed with restructuring a deal to lease aircraft for the embattled state-owned enterprise are two issues observers are keeping close tabs on.
But where does the new man come from and what has he done? For someone thrust into the national and even international spotlight, there appears to be very little information about him.
It is not clear how old he is or when he was born, but according to the People’s Assembly website Van Rooyen became involved in politics in the mid 1980s and then held a number of positions with various unions and civil movements such as the Khutsong Student Congress. He was also a member of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the African National Congress’ (ANC's) armed wing.
According to the same website, he holds an advance Business Management Diploma, a Diploma in Municipal Governance, a certificate in Municipal Governance, a certificate in Councillor Development, a certificate in Municipal Finance, a certificate in Economic and Public Finance and a Masters Degree in Public Development and Management.
Additionally, University of London spokesperson Laura Pritsch, confirmed that the university had conferred a Master of Science degree specialising in economic policy on Van Rooyen on December 31, 2013 after he enrolled in the university’s distance learning programme.
According to Parliament’s website, Van Rooyen has shares in three companies and has directorships in three private companies and two close corporations.
The big question being asked, however, is whether Van Rooyen has leadership and financial capabilities.
Van Rooyen was the mayor of Merafong Local Municipality until 2009, before he became a member of Parliament. His tenure as mayor was eventful as it covered a time when there were protests over the municipality’s inclusion in the North West Province. His house was burnt down in 2006 and he was hounded by angry residents.
Ultimately the government backtracked on the 2005 decision to place the former cross-border municipality within North West and today Merafong remains a part of Gauteng, but not before Van Rooyen was redeployed.
Former Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa tweeted on Wednesday: “I know the guy who’s the new Finance Minister. He was a Mayor when I was Premier. He was a disaster hence his removal 2 years ahead of 2011.”
In Parliament Van Rooyen appears to have largely flown under the radar, but according to the People’s Assembly website he is diligent in attending meetings. In 2014 he attended 93 percent of the parliamentary sessions and this year he has attended 86 percent of parliament’s sessions.
The man at the helm of South Africa’s finances, according to the website, which cites the ruling ANC as its source of information, follows soccer, golf and tennis. He also enjoys reading and hunting.
Van Rooyen is the country’s fifth finance minister since the advent of democracy.
There are next to no news articles written on him during his time in Parliament prior to Zuma announcing his appointment.