The appointment of Lesetja Kganyago as SA Reserve Bank governor is an affirmation of "neo-liberalism" in the country, the Economic Freedom Fighters said on Tuesday.

"Kganyago has been part of the neo-liberal thinking that constituted both the ANC government and the SARB for a while," it said in a statement.

"The idea of inflation targeting and reliance on foreign direct investment as central to macroeconomic planning have not provided anything for the poor.

"Kganyago is part of that implementation of neo-liberal policies as the director general in the National Treasury and continues to espouse this thinking to this day."

President Jacob Zuma announced Kganyago's appointment at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Monday. Current governor Gill Marcus steps down on November 8.

The EFF said all private banks should be nationalised, with government owning 60 percent of their shares.

Banks had to be given development and job creation mandates, contribute to education, and be "democratically run".

"Only a vision of regulating and structuring monetary policy rooted in these ideals can bring about change in the lives of ordinary and poor South Africans," the party said.

It called him a "capable black person" who would do well as governor.