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South Africans may not always agree with the views of new(ish) finance minister, but most will concede Tito Mboweni keeps Twitter interesting.
As he prepares to take centre stage today, here are some of his most interesting social media moments.
1. The time he asked the public to give input on the mini-budget
"Let us do something unusual which will annoy the Establishment. If you were Minister of Finance, what would you announce on Wednesday next week. It is time for the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS). Over to you. Don’t tell the Establishment about this tweet!!" he tweeted ahead of October 2018's mini-budget.
(Hope the Establishment isn't on Twitter.)
2. The time he asked for input… again!
Ahead of Budget 2019, Mboweni again turned to the public for their ideas. Treasury asked South Africans to send tweets to @TreasuryRSA with the hashtag #TipsForMinFin and #RSABudget2019, or use the Budget Tips form on the www.treasury.gov.za website.
3. The time those chillies made a grown man cry
This is how it ends!! Rivers flowing!! I love chillies... ( don’t do a meme!!).. pic.twitter.com/LVKq5YFw9P
— Tito Mboweni (@tito_mboweni) July 5, 2018
(Naturally, a flood of memes did follow.)
4. The time he promised a live Q&A on Twitter (and cancelled it)
In November 2018, the new minister promised a live Q&A online. Shortly before the appointed time, however, he posted a light-hearted cancellation, leaving Twitter looking not unlike a roomful of kids whose school holiday has been replaced with an exam.
The Q & A session has been postponed. We will do this once I have concluded consultations with Mr Fikile “Fearfokol” Mbalula.
— Tito Mboweni (@tito_mboweni) November 12, 2018
5. The times we wondered if he'd been hacked
In November 2018, Mboweni seemingly liked a Tweet by BLF's Lindsay Maasdorp criticising Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan. His spokesperson suggested he may have been hacked.
Then there was the other time there was speculation over whether he'd been hacked - well, see #6.
6. The time he declared war on the media
Mboweni ended up in hot water with the South African National Editors' Forum after a series of controversial tweets along the following lines:
Wars start in different ways. Spears and shields, gun powder, bullets, and now through media: printed and electronic ( eg trade wars by a super power President ), and then Social media!! Well, the SA Editors must be Editors!! If needs be, we will be forced into the fight, WAR!
— Tito Mboweni (@tito_mboweni) November 8, 2018
The problem is that there will be COLLATERAL DAMAGE!!
— Tito Mboweni (@tito_mboweni) November 8, 2018
Mboweni brushed off concerns over the tweets, saying they were nothing to worry about.
7. The time he blasted youth and black Twitter
Defending the governing party on Power FM’s Power Perspective show, the minister blasted both young people and black Twitter, saying, "You young people tell us that we [the ANC] have not done anything for 24 years. Unless if people want to be ahistorical, unless if they are driven by black Twitter, which is uninformed, mostly illiterate – I’m going to get into trouble for that." He added that the same group was "emotional, and really have no content at all".
8. The times he blasted 'filthy, embarrassing' Joburg
The minister compared Johannesburg to Kigali, saying Rwanda's clean streets put SA to shame. Some South African Tweeps agreed, saying more could be done to spruce up the City of Gold. Others, however, didn't take kindly to the criticism, saying a housing shortage and lack of resources was to blame.
EFF leader Julius Malema took it in (moderately) good humour, with the pair trading banter over the issue.
9. The time he said Tuks would regret phasing out Afrikaans
In January 2019, Mboweni said UP should not phase out Afrikaans as a teaching medium.
I publicly, and in my personal capacity, DISAGREE, with the phasing out of Afrikaans as one of the mediums of teaching at the University of Pretoria. As a country, you are shooting yourselves down. You will regret it in 30 years’ time. pic.twitter.com/qNe43ErSQz
— Tito Mboweni (@tito_mboweni) January 24, 2019
The tweet drew strong reactions from thousands of commentators.
10.The time he considered leaving… and Twitter begged him to stay
"When I joined Twitter, it was for sharing, inform, educate, community, entertainment and friendships. Now it has become different. It’s abusive and unfriendly. Too many angry people there. Maybe time to say goodbye," he tweeted in September 2018.
Tweets flooded in asking him not to go.
A month later, he polled Twitter asking if he should hand over his twitter to officials at National Treasury. Again, the answer was a resounding no - with fans calling him "accessible" and journalist Carol Paton saying Treasury officials would "kill us with officialdom".
Bonus: Tweet of the day
The minister may be fond of uppercase on occasion, but he also shows a quieter, thoughtful side on a regular basis. At the time of writing, he pondered the following:
It is a good sign of a vibrant democracy that we can agree to disagree. Nothing wrong with that. None of us has a “monopoly “ of the “correct “ line. Over and out.
— Tito Mboweni (@tito_mboweni) January 25, 2019
