Enoch Godongwana (born 9 June 1957) is a South African politician and former trade unionist who is currently serving as the Minister of Finance since August 2021.

[1] The Financial Mail credited Godongwana for bringing Numsa, a notoriously militant and workerist union, "into the Cosatu fold", as well as for setting it up for the major expansion in membership that it subsequently underwent.

[7] In the Executive Council and Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature, he represented the African National Congress (ANC), Cosatu's Tripartite Alliance partner.

[12] On 26 April 2003, he was elected to succeed Stone Sizani as Deputy Provincial Chairperson of the Eastern Cape ANC, deputising Premier Stofile.

[21] After leaving the provincial government, he served as head of the Financial Sector Charter Council,[1] while also managing various personal business interests; by 2009, he was a director of 24 different companies, including Denel and the Pan African Insurance Group.

He filled a casual vacancy in the seat formerly held by Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, who was among the ministers who resigned after the ANC removed President Thabo Mbeki from office.

[30][31] On 31 October 2010, Zuma announced his first cabinet reshuffle, in which Godongwana was moved to succeed Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde as Deputy Minister of Economic Development.

[33] Richard Kawie and Sam Buthelezi, other co-owners of Canyons Springs Investment 12, had fraud cases opened against them for not repaying the union's loan.

[37] On 15 January 2012, presidential spokesperson Mac Maharaj said that Godongwana had resigned as Deputy Minister of Economic Development "to pursue personal interests".

[48] The first report of his task team, published in early 2012 under the title State Intervention in the Minerals Sector, made fairly moderate recommendations.

For example, in December 2015, markets reacted adversely to a controversial cabinet reshuffle, in which Zuma replaced Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene with Des van Rooyen, a relatively unknown politician with links to the Gupta family.

[51] Years later, Lungisa Fuzile, who was director-general in the Treasury at time, told the Zondo Commission that Godongwana had called to warn him about the implications of the reshuffle.

"[54] In 2017, he questioned the decision of Gordhan's successor, Malusi Gigaba, to appoint Chris Malikane, a controversial figure reportedly linked to the Gupta family, as his economic adviser.

[57] However, at the ANC's 54th National Conference in December 2017, Godongwana was involved in drafting a policy resolution that endorsed the plan to amend the Constitution to allow for land expropriation without compensation, provided that doing so was sustainable and did not harm other economic sectors.

[49] The Financial Mail said that Godongwana had mastered "the art of producing vague, watered-down compromises in the guise of economic policy" as a means to constraining the "worst excesses" of the ANC's left.

[6] At the same conference, Godongwana supported Cyril Ramaphosa's successful bid to succeed Zuma as ANC president,[60][61] and he was himself re-elected to the NEC, ranked 31st of 80 members.

[44] In October 2020, Bantu Holomisa of the opposition United Democratic Movement wrote to Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts to draw attention to what he described as "maladministration, mismanagement and possible deep-rooted corruption" at DBSA.

[64] Finance Minister Tito Mboweni appeared before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts in June 2021 and said that the allegations were unfounded and emanated from a "bitter" former board member.

[66] The markets responded adversely to the announcement, with the rand losing value,[66] but recovered quickly, viewed as a reflection of Godongwana's existing reputation with investors.

In his first medium-term budget speech in November 2021, Godongwana emphasised fiscal discipline and announced a policy of "tough love" towards South Africa's struggling state-owned enterprises, including Eskom.

[72]In future years, he gained a reputation as a staunch champion of fiscal consolidation and as "the finance minister with one of the tightest grips on the country's purse strings".

Also including Gwede Mantashe, Oscar Mabuyane, and Mondli Gungubele, this group was from the Eastern Cape and was influential in Ramaphosa's camp in the ANC.

[6][84][85] In December 2001, while Godongwana was serving in the Eastern Cape Executive Council, the East London Magistrate's Court convicted him of drunk driving.

He pled guilty to the charge, saying in mitigation that he had been driving because his niece had asked him for a lift, and he told press that it was "an error of judgement on my part, which I indeed regret.

[86] In August 2022, a masseuse at a game reserve in the Kruger National Park laid a complaint of sexual harassment against Godongwana, who she said had touched her inappropriately during a massage.

[87][88] He told the Business Day that he believed the allegations were being used to "smear" him "to achieve narrow and selfish political ends" ahead of the ANC's upcoming national conference,[89] and he undertook to continue "focusing on the critical tasks of revitalising our economy and protecting the fiscus".