Nhlanhla Nene appointed at Allan Gray

The financial services company announced the appointment in a statement on Monday. 

"We are very happy to have someone of Mr Nene's experience on our board, and we are grateful that he chose to accept the appointment. We are looking forward to his strategic and leadership contribution to the board," said Ian Liddle, chairman of the board.

Nene has extensive experience in the financial services and public sector. He served in local government from 1996, became a member of parliament in 1999 and was later made chairman of the budget and finance committee. 

He was appointed deputy minister of finance and chairman of the Public Investment Corporation in November 2008 and then served as minister of finance from May 2014 until December 2015. 

Nene holds a BComm (Hons) from the University of the Western Cape and other certificates in Economics and Public Finance. 

Nene's appointment comes after he was unexpectedly fired as finance minister by President Jacob Zuma in December 2015 and replaced by backbencher Des van Rooyen.  

This was followed by four days of chaos in the financial markets and the subsequent announcement that Van Rooyen be replaced by current Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan. 

President Zuma later explained that Nene was removed from his post to pave the way for his nomination to the Brics Bank that will be based in Johannesburg. 

Nene told the media last week, however, that his removal came as a surprise.

Edited by Faith Daniels