South African anti-apartheid leader Tito Mboweni dies at 65

Tito Mboweni, former South African anti-apartheid activist and influential economic policymaker, has died at 65 following a brief illness, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced late Saturday.

“We have lost a leader and compatriot who has served our nation as an activist, economic policy innovator and champion of labour rights,’’ President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement late Saturday.

Mboweni, who was South Africa’s first Black central bank governor from 1999 to 2009, and later the minister of finance from 2018 to 2021 under Ramaphosa, played a central role in fiscal reform and economic transformation.

Flag bearer

He was also South Africa’s first democratic minister of labour from 1994 to 1999 in the Cabinet of founding President Nelson Mandela.

His passing at 65 comes as a shock considering Mboweni’s sense of vitality, energetic and affable engagement with fellow South Africans, Ramaphosa added.

“As Governor and Finance Minister, he had a sharp focus on fiscal discipline and economic transformation,’’ said the president.

Ramaphosa highlighted that Mboweni distinguished himself in different strategic roles in the private sector and was a flag bearer in global forums for South Africa‘s economy and developing economies.