Remembering Tito Mboweni (1959 - 2024)
An authorised condolences page, and facility, for persons to submit messages of support and their memories of Tito.
Condolences in honour of the life of Tito Mboweni
Tito Mboweni was a towering figure in South African public life. His sudden passing on Saturday 12 October 2024 has seen a huge outpouring of tributes and commentaries on his life and his impact in South Africa, Africa and globally. The Mboweni family is deeply touched by the tributes they have already received.
Tito’s comrades, friends and family have established this repository to allow fellow South Africans, and persons wider afield, to share their memories of Tito.
Click here to submit your messages of condolence. Comments will be moderated before posting.
“We have lost a leader and compatriot who has served our nation as an activist, economic policy innovator and champion of labour rights.”
“Tito was part of a rare and privileged generation within the ANC that spent much of their adult lives fighting successfully against Apartheid. They went on to become architects of the new South Africa, shaping its policies and laying the foundation for a democratic and viable state.”
“Mr Mboweni’s passing is a great loss to South Africa, the continent and the global economic community. He played a meaningful role in driving economic transformation and social change throughout a distinguished career.”
“Tito was above all else, a thoroughly decent man. Worldly and with a mischievous curiosity about the world. Always with a nourished sense of justice, that propelled him into the trenches from the earliest of ages. The Gov left this place slightly better than how he found it.”
“His counsel was invaluable in the effort of reforming the African Union, and in recent years, he dedicated his energy to implementing the reform as chair of the AU Peace Fund. His legacy will live on for generations to come.”
“Tito was a giant in African leadership, and his legacy of service, from fighting apartheid to shaping ACET’s governance, will continue to inspire us. He will be deeply missed.”
Tito Mboweni was deeply committed to democracy and never compromised on this, ever.
He was the epitome of ‘courageous leadership’. Intellectually honest, his own man and not a hero-worshipper. He was left-wing and socialist but not a slave to narrow and mechanical ideological positions.
A lesser known fact is that while he was Finance Minister, he bravely and unflinchingly supported the passage of the Political Party Funding Act which made it a legal requirement for political parties to be transparent about their funding sources.
I have lost a comrade-in-arms and a brother.
Valli Moosa
Thank you, Tito, for remaining true to the undertaking you made when you became part of a group that fought apartheid. You joined the fight against oppression to free black people from apartheid. This almost denied you an education as you had to leave Turfloop in 1980 before completing your studies. Fortunately, you gained admission at the National University of Lesotho and completed your undergraduate studies.
After this, you enrolled for a postgraduate degree at the University of East Anglia.
On finishing your studies, you immediately again took your place in the ranks of opponents of apartheid. Not long thereafter apartheid capitulated and democratic forces won.
In the new environment, you were one of those selected to take your place among leaders of the new government. In the various roles you were assigned, you devoted yourself diligently and used your intellectual prowess to advance the gains of democracy. You avoided any role in petty arguments within the ANC. You played no part in the divisions that rent the ANC. All who worked with you soon became aware you always spoke your mind.
You never stole the resources you were assigned to husband. You never in anyway abused your position of power.
Thank you for your service to South Africa.
We shall never forget.
Rest in peace Tito.
Titus Tito Mboweni
As I said last Sunday when I first heard of your passing, I am struggling to come to terms with it as though you were a close family member and yet you were not. That shows the impact you had on the life of ordinary people of South Africa and Africa at large. You were larger than life. A rare breed that showed servant leadership. You will surely be missed our Mr Mboweni, our first former labour minister in our post democratic country, our first black Reserve Bank governor in our post democratic South Africa and former Finance Minister Tito Mboweni. Such a bubbly person. May your soul RIP.
Governor.
Hearing that you left us broke my heart. You were supposed to see me, remember?
I will miss you for being the kind, caring and most consistent friend to me over the past 5 years. I will miss all our dinners, and all our conversations, we were supposed to have so many more together still.
My heart is filled with so much regret, there’s so much more I could have done, and so much more I could have said.
I guess it’s true what they say, you never truly appreciate a person until they are gone.
I’m going to miss you Minister. Wishing your soul peace and if there’s an afterlife, I truly hope to see you once more.
Rest in peace TM 🕊️❤️
We have lost a great leader, an intellectual, one of the leaders that truly inspired a young female and inspiring young leader. Please watch over us and our beloved country from the other side. Rest in peace.
Our continent has lost a true and brilliant Pan-African…. sincere condolences to friends and family…
May His soul rest in peace.
I am deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. Tito Mboweni, former Minister of Labour, Governor of the Reserve Bank, and Minister of Finance. At 65, his loss comes at a time when his wisdom was still crucial in our journey of socio-economic transformation.
From his activism in exile at Lesotho to being the first black Governor of the Reserve Bank, Mboweni was a leader defined by integrity and service. He shaped post-apartheid labour laws and steered our economy through tough times with unwavering dedication.
His intellect and honesty sometimes sparked debate, but his patriotism never wavered. To the Mboweni family, my heartfelt condolences. His legacy will forever inspire future generations.
Rest in peace, Comrade Tito.
Tito was more than a distinguished politician and economist; he was a beacon of hope and humility for many South Africans. His immense contributions to the fight against apartheid and his tireless work in the ANC highlighted his commitment to the liberation and unity of our people. Tito played a pivotal role in shaping the economic policies of our nation, serving as the Governor of the South African Reserve Bank and later as the Minister of Finance, where he worked tirelessly to ensure economic stability and growth.
Rest in peace Chef.
Here is to a man who never shied of being who he is. Never suffered fools. A Well trained cadre of the movement who remained committed to the ideals of the freedom charter, was clear about his class position and bourgeoise aspirations. A man who made something out of nothing. Tito leaves a powerful legacy, that out of the most bitter situations we find ourselves in, we can still do something potentially good out of it. Rest easy governor. His humility was more displayed as he was aging and it also showed how much he loved his people. The movement is poorer without him today.
“Tito Mboweni bothered no one man. He smoked his zol, abused garlic, loved his tin fish and old shoes, spoke with his posh accent, loved Rwanda and Lesotho. He didn’t care that he had the country’s bank acc pin code, he’d drive from Limpopo to Killarney one man” reads @WaNkwatisa’s tweet.
This reminds me of a Tito anecdote. According to the jacket cover of the book I co-authored with Karyn Maughan, I am a former Treasury Insider. Well, the truth is that as a former mid-level Treasury bureaucrat, I didn’t get to rub shoulders with everyone’s favourite Twitter chef, so I cannot recount any of the heady stuff of encounters in the Treasury banking hall or MinComBud meetings.
But there is this one occasion in which I like to think that my realm of influence extended into the sphere of this humble giant. It had to do with shoes.
Most of you know about Tito’s trusty Clarks shoes and how he used to wear these scuffed beauties to serious meetings. There was an underlying message of course. It was to his compatriots with a taste for finery. These shiny shoes are not appropriate to flaunt in a country with poverty levels like South Africa. The message was never delivered from a moralistic high ground though. Humour was the vehicle. At one stage, I believe that the President banned the then-Tweeting Duchy of Magoebaskloof from being on Twitter, because no Finance Minister had ever engaged so directly with people while also throwing subtle shade. And then the ban seemed to be lifted somehow. Maybe the President came to see the merits of an influencer Finance Minister. Perhaps we’ll never know.
Now look, the pandemic was a time that we’d all like to assign to the dustbins of recent dystopian history. To cope with such a time, one really needs a good sense of humour. Or as one meme, which I like says, “that dark sense of humour is a load-bearing structure”. Our former Reserve Bank Governor and Finance Minister had a great sense of humour. I wouldn’t characterise it as dark though. His was quirky, but still, there was method in his humour.
Back to the shoes and the pandemic. In 2021, I posted a picture on Facebook of three pairs of slippers and captioned it my shoe collection of 2020. In 2022, I sort of missed wearing slippers as work footwear and took a pair along to an activist workshop. As a homage to Tito, I got a sneaky pic of myself wearing my comfy slippers at the workshop. I then took a chance that former Head of Budget Office, Michael Sachs, would also have a sense of humour and WhatsApp’d him the photo, saying something like slippers: the footwear of ‘formers’.
Now, I don’t really know what happened next, but I like to believe that he sent the photo to the former Finance Minister, because around that time, there was a tweet that Tito made with a photo of himself and then Justice Minister Ronald Lamola together at Tito’s farm – Tito was wearing slippers and Lamola a pair of what looked like school shoes.
Tito liked to banter with people on Twitter. He enjoyed speaking to people who were eating at his favourite restaurant. He let us into his life. And he went about in his old Clarks despite numerous South African Twitter users helpfully trying to source him new ones.
What can we say when such a giant departs what feels prematurely? I hope that future Finance Ministers know that they have big shoes to fill.
O robale boroko Bro. T 🫡
I miss you dearly, already.
To me, you were a dependable Cadre, a Brother, and a friend to my family.
I will forever cherish the moments I have spent with you.
Rest well, my Dearest Brother 🕊🕊🕊🕊🕊
May your soul rest in perfect peace Comrade Tito, you were an example of a true public servant. Hamba kahle Mkhonto
I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of former Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni. I had the privilege of working closely with him as the Head of Communications at National Treasury. He was dedicated to transparent communication and often sought my feedback. Tito was a great storyteller and shared valuable insights from his experiences. I will always cherish the knowledge and guidance he provided. Rest in Peace 'Governer'. " Imisebenzi yakho ilingqina" – We know you through your work!
Uncle Tito's remarkable selflessness, dedication, and a deep commitment to the liberation of South Africa, serves as an inspiration all politicians to serve the country for a better life for all. Thank you for all the hardwork chef. Rest in peace my leader. 🇿🇦❤️
I only met Tito once – in 1996, at a Centre for Policy Studies conference that I had organised. I chaired the session he participated in. Minister Tito, as he then was, drew an econometric graphic of some sort and explained it to me. “You can call me Tito”, he said. I never did, even in later years in a WhatsApp group with him. Gov8 it was!.