Mboweni: Motsepe was within his rights
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has come to the defense of businessman Patrice Motsepe after he sparked a debate on social media for telling US President Donald Trump that Africa loves him.
Motsepe made the remarks on Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Speaking to Trump, Motsepe said: "We do business in 50 countries and I had the honour of being one of the 100 greatest business minds by Forbes and it was an honour to be with you. All we wanted to say is Africa loves America. Africa loves you [Donald Trump]."
Patrice Motsepe doing everything he can to make sure Africa is never involved in World War 3! I stan๐๐พ pic.twitter.com/T41UoyLDQo
— ๐ข๐ณ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐๐ฒ ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐๏ธ๐ฝ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ (@unclescrooch) January 24, 2020
On Friday, during a question and answer session with the South African government delegation, Mboweni was asked whether Motsepe was in any position to speak on behalf of the country during his engagements with the attending delegates.
Mboweni was quick to defend the mining mogul, saying it was clear that he was speaking in his personal capacity.
"I think that as a private individual people are free to express their views
"I think he was well within his rights to express his views."
Mboweni added that he sees no fault in Motsepe's utterances.
"He doesn't have that kind of arrogance to speak on behalf of the South African government."
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