Mcebisi Jonas | |
---|---|
Deputy Minister of Finance | |
In office 26 May 2014 – 31 March 2017 | |
President | Jacob Zuma |
Minister | |
Preceded by | Nhlanhla Nene |
Succeeded by | Sfiso Buthelezi |
Member of the National Assembly | |
Assembly Member for Eastern Cape | |
In office 21 May 2014 – 31 March 2017 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Mcebisi Hubert Jonas 1960 (age 63–64) Uitenhage |
Political party | African National Congress |
Spouse | Matshepo Jonas |
Alma mater | Vista University Rhodes University |
Mcebisi Hubert Jonas (born 1960) is a South African politician and businessman who was the Deputy Minister of Finance of South Africa between May 2014 and March 2017. He is best known as a state capture whistleblower. In 2016, he publicly alleged that the Gupta brothers had offered him the post of finance minister under President Jacob Zuma.
Born in the Eastern Cape, Jonas was an anti-apartheid activist in Port Elizabeth and a founding member of the United Democratic Front. A former head of the Eastern Cape Development Corporation, he joined the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature as a representative of the African National Congress (ANC). Between 2009 and 2014, he was a Member of the Executive Council of the Eastern Cape under Premier Noxolo Kiviet. He launched two unsuccessful campaigns to become provincial chairperson of the Eastern Cape ANC, in 2006 and 2009 respectively.
Jonas joined the National Assembly in the 2014 general election and was appointed as Deputy Minister of Finance under President Zuma's second cabinet. Zuma sacked him on 31 March 2017, alongside Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, and he resigned from Parliament shortly thereafter. He has since launched a career in business, running Ntiso Investment Holdings. He was appointed as special investment envoy to President Cyril Ramaphosa in April 2018 and as board chairperson of the MTN Group in December 2019.