Mboweni: To be in politics, you have to 'swallow a rock'

The minister sent out a handful of posts on Twitter very late on Tuesday night following reports that he advocated for the lifting of the current ban on the sale of tobacco products.

However, cabinet has reiterated that the ban would not be reversed and government is prepared to defend the decision in court.  

Mboweni told Twitter how he remembered being free before he joined the administration of President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Lord Gandis on Twitter questioned the minister on why doesn't then resign; "Please Tito we are not kids Since you seem to be against some of the decisions taken by the government why don't you resign to show that you are against their decisions?."

The minister also described his job in government as "poorly paying and abusive."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I have often asked myself the question: What is the art of politics? The Path to Power and how to stay in Power! And lead your People correctly. Corruption free. Why do people want to be in Power, actually? Why? It’s a poorly paying, thankless and abusive job!!</p>&mdash; Tito Mboweni (@tito_mboweni) <a href="https://twitter.com/tito_mboweni/status/1257776157078020096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 5, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

African National Congress (ANC) Eastern Cape councillor's Andile Lungisa replied to the minister's tweet: "Tito is pathetically signalling to his settler masters that he’s a different native. Despite your nauseating pandering, they will always view you as a kaffir like all of us."

The minister concluded his rant on Twitter by saying: "So, if You cannot Swallow a Rock, Stay out of Politics! Remember that?"