he was criticised for replacing him with david van rooyan. >> reporter: the appointment of pravin gordhan has been widely welcomed after president zuma replaced the former finance minister last week on wednesday with david van rooyan, a little known minister. there was massive condemnation and criticism of the president, especially considering there was no history behind david van rooyan. he didn't say why the former was replaced. it was to say he was due to stands for another position. pravin gordhan was the finance minister previously between 2009 and 2014. his appointment will restore confidence in the south african economy and bring some strength to the ran which had a tumble against the dollar last week. going forward it was thought that pravin gordhan would bring some stability. the president has taken a knock in terms of confidence in his leadership. there is concern that there has been important governance in this period especially as we've seen three different finance ministers in one week here >>> at the trial of one of china's most prominent disdents has ended after five hours.