Page 186 - SARB: 100-Year Journey

Nelson Mandela, President, 1994–1999
Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa’s first democratically elected President on 10 May 1994 at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. The Union Buildings, the seat of national government, also hosted the first two meetings of the Board of the nascent SARB in May and June 1921.
President Mandela proceeded to lead the transition period by creating an accommodative political environment and a culture of consensus building. This sometimes materialised in Madiba, as he was fondly known, defying party dictum for the greater good of the state.
He softened his rhetoric on an economic policy of nationali- sation. He appointed non-ANC-aligned finance ministers and persuaded Dr Stals to serve a second term as SARB Governor. He understood well that the ANC had an unproven track record of running a government, let alone the complex task of overseeing an economy. Above all, Madiba was a constitutionalist. He won over friends and foes, disarmed critics and steered the painstaking task of rebuilding trust in South Africa.
The activists-turned-technocrats interviewed in this publi- cation readily admit that in those heady post-1994 days, the struggle was still fresh in their minds and they considered themselves political activists before the formal titles they assumed. Those first two appointments in finance and Stals’s continuation at the SARB bought Mandela, and by extension the ANC, time to effect a carefully coordinated and orderly takeover process.
Most importantly, Madiba was resolute about addressing the country’s huge net open foreign currency position. Trevor Manuel, the first Minister of Finance appointed by the ANC government, recalls President Mandela being insistent that: “We cannot make future generations pay for past debt.”
Madiba gave the SARB and the National Treasury political cover to complete the task unhindered.
In subsequent years, the SARB honoured Madiba through a commemorative banknote series bearing his person. Moreover, South Africa not only closed the net open foreign currency position, but also built its foreign exchange reserves.
Nelson Mandela takes the oath of office at his inauguration following the 1994 election. /Getty Images
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President Mandela stepped down from office in 1999 and was succeeded by Thabo Mbeki. /Getty Images