Former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene has a new job. And no, it's not at the Brics bank, he's still waiting for that call.
He'll be the interim head of school for the Wits Business School. In February, CheckPoint's Nkepile Mabuse interviewed Nene to "reflect on the Big Brics Lie".
At the time of the interview, Nene, who was fired on December 9, 2015 by President Jacob Zuma, had been working as a resident adviser at Thebe Investment Corporation. He also sits on the board of Allan Gray as a non-executive director.
As we reflected on Nene's pending appointment to the Brics bank, we rewatched this interview and found some hilarious gems Nene dropped in it.
1. "I got a number of calls. I might have missed it. I got a number of calls."
This Nene said after Mabuse asked him what he'd been up to since the "infamous 9/12". He explained that he went on holiday then spent some time on his wife's small farm. At this point, he started receiving lots of calls for job offers, none of them from Brics. When Mabuse asks him about the call again he says: "It hasn't come through."
2. "What I was told was that I had been nominated for that position, beyond that I don't think the president has got the power."
Nene wouldn't say the president was lying about deploying him to greener pastures, but he did say as far as he knew, the president didn't actually have the power to make get him the appointment at Brics bank.
3. "That's not my call, whether when I am nominated I should stay in the job or if I should take gardening leave which I did take and I enjoyed very much."
Gardening leave? We're guessing this was Nene's way of saying he enjoyed the time on his wife's farm. Nene said he didn't feel entitled to any position so even when he was on said "gardening leave" it wasn't because he was waiting for the call. He used the time to reflect.
4. "I kept a box of tissues for people who came crying and I would give them only one so that they don't cry beyond one tissue because there is no reason to feel that way."
Nene said people should allow their leaders to lead them and have structures deal with any problems. At that point, he felt the positive from 9/12 was that business and government came together and held off the wrath of the rating agencies.
Post Pravin Gordhan's axing, we wonder what new silver lining Nene would pull out of his hat.
Watch the full interview with Nkepile Mabuse.