Nene on SAA: I did what was best for the country

Axed finance minister Nhlanhla Nene says he acted “in the best interest” of the country when he took on President Jacob Zuma’s close ally‚ SAA chairwoman Dudu Myeni‚ the Sunday Times reported.

His instruction to the SAA board that it must conclude its approved deal with French manufacturer Airbus‚ he said‚ was to “protect the fiscus” as missing the deadline for the deal would have been “quite disastrous” for the country.

Within days of Nene issuing the instruction‚ Zuma announced that he had fired him‚ replacing him with a relatively unknown MP‚ David van Rooyen.

Nene’s showdown with Myeni appears to have been the last straw for Zuma‚ who is said to have been unhappy with his finance minister because of National Treasury delays in approving finance for the controversial nuclear build programme.