President Cyril Ramaphosa sent Malusi Gigaba back to the Department of Home Affairs on Monday evening during his cabinet reshuffle in Pretoria.
Gigaba, who was accused of lying under oath on the same day he presented his first budget speech last week, has also been linked to state capture.
In an attempt to remove Pravin Gordhan from the finance ministry in March 2017, former president Jacob Zuma promoted Gigaba to this role.
Only three months later, leaked emails revealed that Gigaba helped the Gupta family skip the queue at home affairs and become South African citizens.
Nene back to top finance job
Ramaphosa replaced Gigaba with Nhlanhla Nene, who previously held the position of finance minister for 18 months, starting in May 2014.
Just like Gordhan, he had been removed by Zuma without reasonable explanation and he was replaced by Des van Rooyen.
The market responded negatively to his dismissal, including a 5.4% drop in the value of the Rand, and within days Zuma swopped him out for Gordhan.
Since then Nene reportedly went into the private business sector where he held a position at Thebe Investments.
His return to the finance ministry has been welcomed by both analysts and the public.
Gordhan back in government
The public protector announced last Thursday that the Minister of Public Enterprises, Lynne Brown, misled Parliament about the involvement of a Gupta-controlled consultancy firm, Trillian, in Eskom.
Ramaphosa, who was given 14 days to take action against her, removed Brown and replaced her with Gordhan.
The Department of Public Enterprises has received sharp criticism under Brown’s administration, and Gordhan faces a challenge to keep head above water in this sea of negativity in the months to come.
According to Gerard van der Westhuizen, dealer at TreasuryONE, the appointment of both Nene and Gordhan has been welcomed.
“The general consensus is that the reshuffle has received a warm welcome and that President Cyril Ramaphosa continues to work towards economic recovery,” said van der Westhuizen.
