Another senior official leaves national treasury

[caption id="attachment_203630" align="aligncenter" width="542"] Andrew Donaldson
File picture: Robert Tshabalala / Financial Mail[/caption]

Another senior official has left national treasury.

Deputy director general Andrew Donaldson had asked for early retirement‚ treasury spokesman Yolisa Tyantsi said on Tuesday.

His last day was at the end of April.

“He is approaching 60 this year and he had relinquished his responsibilities [as acting head of the Government Technical Advisory Centre GTAC] in December last year‚” Tyantsi told TimesLIVE.

“He wants to pursue academics because he works a lot with academic institutions.”

Tyantsi said treasury was in negotiations with Donaldson to try and retain his skills through “alternative arrangements ... to ensure that he is not totally lost to the system”.

Donaldson’s departure follows that of director general Lungisa Fuzile‚ who will leave later this month.

Their exit comes after Pravin Gordhan was axed as finance minister in the recent cabinet reshuffle‚ along with his deputy Mcebisi Jonas.

Fuzile and Donaldson had been with treasury for at least 20 years and were highly respected for steering the fiscus through some trying times. They were also believed to be fierce critics of the government’s costly nuclear plans.

The Sunday Times reported last year that Donaldson‚ Fuzile and treasury deputy director general Ismail Momoniat were on a list of treasury officials that the Gupta family‚ associates of President Jacob Zuma‚ wanted to get rid of.

-TMG Digital/TimesLIVE