‘Eish!’ Late Mboweni sworn in with the EFF, keeps 378 000 Twitter followers updated

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni may have been late for his swearing in as a member of Parliament on Wednesday, but he still managed to keep his 378 000 Twitter followers updated. 

Mboweni is known for being outspoken on the social media platform – whether he is discussing dinner plans with his followers , promising to review books like ‘Gangster State’, or asking Helen Zille to kindly stop tweeting.

According to News24 journalist Jan Gerber, who was in the National Assembly press gallery, the finance minister arrived late to his swearing in.

Mboweni was supposed to be sworn in with fellow ANC MPs, but later joined some EFF members in taking the oath. 

Without fail, Mboweni tweeted about the mishap on Twitter. 

“Sworn in. Done and dusted. Wrong group though! Eish!!,” Mboweni wrote. 

The MPs were sworn in on Wednesday morning ahead of the election of the Speaker and the President. 

Mboweni – who was named finance minister in early October 2018 after Nhlanhla Nene stepped down, has been taking his Twitter followers along on his journey to become an MP in the sixth Parliament. He is expected to retain his post in Ramaphosa’s Cabinet. 

On Tuesday he tweeted about the efficiency of being registered as an MP.

And called youthful ANC MPs “young lions”.

Over the weekend, meanwhile, Mboweni responded on Twitter to former Western Cape Premier Helen Zille’s tweets about black privilege. Zille was criticised for tweeting that looting and stealing “hundreds of billions” and then getting re-elected was an example of “black privilege”. Her tweet was in response to a viral video of an American poet on “white privilege,” as News24 reported.

Mboweni asked Zille to stop. “My sister, please don’t tweet today. You are in a wrong psychological space. Take it easy today. Ok. Uzaba strongo (you will be strong),” Mboweni tweeted.

Mboweni has also been sharing recipes with his followers and asking for cooking advice. Two weeks ago he walked his followers through making chicken stew. Earlier in the week he asked for tips on cooking Mopane worms and pap. 

Based on the previous experience, it may be too late to start cooking the free range chicken stew. Maybe I should settle for matomana and pap. Any thoughts? pic.twitter.com/mrwuwAx7Oy

— Tito Mboweni (@tito_mboweni) May 18, 2019

In April, ahead of the elections Mboweni tweeted that he would read investigative journalist Pieter-Louis Myburgh’s book Gangster State. He promised a review within seven days but later decided against sharing views as this would raise “potential legal issues”.