BUSINESS NEWS - The job which was meant for former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene – and was the given reason for his sudden firing – is still vacant, according to Rapport.

According to the paper, the BRICS development bank is struggling to fill the position and has kept applications for the job open until 2 May 2016.

However, the group should not expect an application from Nene, as the former minister has taken at least two new position in the private sector, and has said he has no intention of taking on any more.

On 12 December 2015, president Jacob Zuma announced a surprise shuffle in his cabinet, firing Nene as the country’s finance minister. The move caught everyone unawares – including markets, which responded negatively to the announcement, sending the rand into a tailspin.

With the rand falling as far as R17.99 to the dollar, in a matter of hours, Zuma effectively wiped as much as R500 billion from the South African economy, and was called to provide a reason why he would make such a far-reaching decision.

According to Zuma, the reason why Nene had to be fired was because he needed to be free to take up the top position at the BRICS Development Bank, and that the government was fully supporting his candidature.

However, months after being fired, Nene had still not received any offer to take up that job.

In April Nene announced that he was moving to the private sector and subsequently took up two new positions – one on the board of investment group, Allan Gray, and the other as a consultant for Thebe Investments.