Pragmatic and point-blank economics :: Mmegi Online

A classic neoliberal who disdained an oversized government. A cool, calm mind during the greatest era of mineral revenues in the country’s history. A strong-headed negotiator who stared down apartheid SACU ‘bullies’. An institution-builder from Independence. MBONGENI MGUNI writes

In 1969, then 30-year-old Festus Mogae found himself as one of the very few black faces around a table dominated by Afrikaner governance veterans as a young Botswana and other regional ‘minnows’ negotiated clauses in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) agreement.

Having joined government, the year before in 1968, Mogae was one of the rare indigenous professionals in a public service still dominated by the former colonial power. At the time of Independence in 1966, Mogae was one of just 22 university graduates in the country and was quickly snapped up to the Development Planning ministry under then-vice president, the late Ketumile Masire.

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Pragmatic and point-blank economics

A classic neoliberal who disdained an oversized government. A cool, calm mind during the greatest era of mineral revenues in the country’s history. A strong-headed negotiator who stared down apartheid SACU ‘bullies’. An institution-builder from Independence. MBONGENI MGUNI writes

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