The sacking of South Africa's respected finance minister in a cabinet purge pitched the ruling ANC party into chaos Friday, creating one of its biggest tests since leading the fight against apartheid. The country's Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa launched a unprecedented verbal attack on President Jacob Zuma, whose midnight reshuffle sent the rand currency plunging and triggered accusations that he was promoting graft.
Zuma's axing of finance minister Pravin Gordhan also unleashed a wave of opposition in the African National Congress, which came to power under Nelson Mandela in the euphoric 1994 elections but has suffered declining support. Gordhan was widely seen as a competent manager of one of the world's most important emerging economies. Ramaphosa went public with his anger, openly attacking his boss.
"I told him that I would not agree with him," Ramaphosa told reporters. "There are quite a number of other colleagues and comrades who are unhappy about this situation, particularly the removal of the minister of finance who was serving the country with absolute distinction". Gordhan was reportedly sacked because of an alleged intelligence report on meetings he held in London earlier this week.