Former Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has replaced Pravin Gordhan as the new Finance Minister of South Africa.

Gigaba, born in 1971 in KwaZulu-Natal holds a bachelor-degree in Education and a Masters in Arts degree in Social Policy from the University of Durban Westville.

Gigaba joined the ANC, the SACP and the ANC Youth League in 1990. In 1994 he became president of the ANC Youth League.

Under the presidency of former President Thabo Mbeki, Gigaba was Deputy Home Affairs Minister. President Jacob Zuma appointed him to the position of Public Enterprises Minister in October 2010 – a position he held until the President announced a new Cabinet when he assumed his second term of office in May 2014. He was then appointed to the home affairs portfolio.

Gigaba is seen as a close ally of Zuma and has jumped to the president’s defence on numerous occasions during speeches in parliament. Most notably, he defended Zuma’s comments that the ANC comes before the country – a statement Zuma made in 2015 when addressing a conference in KZN.

At the time, Zuma said he had argued once with someone who said the country came first. “And I said as much as I understand that, I think my organisation, the ANC, comes first.

Under Gigaba’s ministry, the Department of Home Affairs has taken a few controversial decisions, such as abridged birth certificates for children travelling to South Africa, regulations and more recently inspections to make sure South African businesses comply with the requirement to employ a minimum of 60% South African citizens.