Tito Mboweni

Tito Mboweni (born 16 March 1959) was the eighth Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. He succeeded Dr. Christian Lodewyk Stals on the 8 August 1999 and was succeeded by Gill Marcus who replaced him as Governor on 9 November 2009. He is currently the Chairman of AngloGold Ashanti.

The youngest of three children, Tito Mboweni was born on 16 March 1959. He grew up in Tzaneen in the then Transvaal Pronvince. He attended the University of the North between 1979 and 1980, where he registered for a Bachelor of Commerce degree. He did not complete his studies there and left South Africa to go into exile in 1980.

While in exile in Lesotho, he joined the African National Congress (ANC), South Africa's current governing party, and was an activist for the party in many capacities. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts (honours equivalent) degree in economics and political science from the National University of Lesotho in 1985. In 1988 he obtained a Master of Arts degree in development economics from the University of East Anglia in England.

Tito Mboweni was Minister of Labour from May 1994 to July 1998 in President Nelson Mandela's cabinet. Prior to his appointment as Minister of Labour, he was Deputy Head of the Department of Economic Policy in the ANC. He also represented the ANC on several domestic and international platforms. Tito Mboweni was a member of the ANC's National Executive and National Working Committees and was also Chairperson of the National Executive Committee's Economic Transformation Committee, which coordinated the development of ANC economic policies.

He became one of the World Economic Forums Global Leaders of Tomorrow in 1995.

In 1997 Tito Mboweni was appointed head of the ANC's Policy Department which was responsible for managing ANC policy processes. Upon joining the South African Reserve Bank, he resigned all of his elected and appointed positions in the ANC.

He joined the South African Reserve Bank in July 1998 as Advisor to the Governor. In August 1999 he was appointed Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. During his tenure, he was appointed honorary Professor of Economics at the University of South Africa for 2000 to 2003. The University of Natal awarded the Governor the degree of Doctor of Economics, honoris causa. The degree was conferred on him in 2001. The Governor was also elected Chancellor of the University of the North-West and was installed as Chancellor on 23 February 2002. The University of Stellenbosch appointed the Governor Professor Extraordinary in Economics for the period 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2005.

Although generally portrayed as a pragmatic individual, Mboweni will be remembered for two distinct acts; the formalisation of a Socialist labour ideology within the South African labour market by promulgating far-reaching labour legislation during his last two years as Minister of Labour (1997) and often controversial conduct during the South African Reserve Bank general meetings of shareholders. The former is often blamed for the lack of formal job opportunities in South Africa with employers often citing the inflexibility of labour legislation as a disincentive to employ. In his final years as Governor of the Reserve Bank (2007 -2009), Mboweni was noted for his poor level of facilitation of the Bank's Annual General meetings where shareholders were prevented from questioning the Governor on basic corporate governance infringements and confusing financial reporting. Mboweni was further mired in controversy when he insulted and accused a shareholder of being racist in a public meeting. Ironically, this led to Mboweni being brought before the Equality Court (2010) on charges of racism and prejudicial conduct.

External links

• Tito Mboweni biography, at African National Congress site, retrieved 2008-08-20