The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has called on the African continent to reject the appointment of former Finance Minister Trevor Manuel as one of four special envoys to mobilise international support to address the economic challenges African countries will face as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Cyril Ramaphosa made the appointments in his capacity as chairperson of the African Union.
The envoys also include the former finance ministers of Rwanda and Nigeria.
Currently, the continent has confirmed more than 13 000 cases of the viral infection in the continent with 747 recorded deaths.
EFF Spokesperson Delisile Ngwenya says has described Manuel as a puppet of white monopoly capital.
“In this role, Manuel is supposed to mobilise international support. Manuel is a puppet of white monopoly capital. In his entire contribution in post-apartheid South Africa, Manuel has worked to entrench the power of white monopoly capital. The only support he will ever mobilise is that of his handlers and its racist control of economic resources on the continent. He will obviously now export this and house neo-colonial macro-economic policies to the rest of the continent.”
Chairperson of the @_AfricanUnion, His Excellency President @CyrilRamaphosa of the Republic of South Africa, has appointed Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Dr Donald Kaberuka, Mr Tidjane Thiam & Mr Trevor Manuel as Special Envoys of the @_AfricanUnion #AfricaResponds #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/D2zPol0jHU
— AUChair2020 (@AUChair2020) April 12, 2020
In the video below, SABC News looks at the other envoys appointed by Ramaphosa: