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South Africa's finance minister Nhlanhla Nene resigns

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa accepted the resignation of the country's finance minister Nhlanhla Nene on Tuesday, following what the President described as "errors of judgement."

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By
David McKenzie
, CNN
(CNN) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa accepted the resignation of the country's finance minister Nhlanhla Nene on Tuesday, following what the President described as "errors of judgement."

In a nationally televised address, Ramaphosa said he accepted Nene's resignation because of "errors of judgment" as a result of a controversy surrounding Nene's testimony in an ongoing graft inquiry in South Africa.

Ramaphosa announced that Tito Mboweni, a former South African Reserve Bank Governor, will replace Nene as finance minister.

Mboweni was sworn-in immediately following the address.

"After due consideration of the circumstances around this matter and in the interest of good governance, I have decided to accept his resignation," said Ramaphosa.

Nene was sacked by former president Jacob Zuma as finance minister -- in testimony to the ongoing 'state capture inquiry'.

Although, Nene says he was fired because he refused to sign onto what many saw as a questionable nuclear deal with Russia.

Nene was re-appointed after Ramaphosa assumed the presidency.

Despite his reputation as a finance minister fighting the rot of corruption, Nene recently admitted to a series of meetings during his tenure with the Gupta family, wealthy Indian expats that are accused of large-scale corruption. He previously denied having those meetings.

Several other members of Ramaphosa's cabinet have been accused of corruption and some analysts believe that Nene's resignation will put more pressure on the president to clean up his leadership team.

The influential Gupta family are implicated in a 355-page State of Capture 2016 report published by South Africa prosecutors.

It contains allegations, questionable business deals and ministerial appointments in former president Jacob Zuma's government.

The Guptas are a wealthy family who emigrated from India to South Africa, where they have built a business empire and wield much political influence.

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