The rand’s recovery hit a snag on Thursday morning as the dollar rebounded and SA fell victim to US President Donald Trump’s twitter tirade."I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers. "South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers," Trump tweeted.The local currency fell as much as 2% against the dollar, leading the declines among the emerging-market currencies."What it [the tweet] will do is, of course, raise the fear profile that has been brewing about the land issue for the past few weeks. Can you imagine what the mere mention of sanctions might do? Not that I want to be a doomsayer, but given his track record recently of threatening sanction [and in some instances imposing them] there will be those, including me, who have to put the thought at the back of their minds. Not exclude it entirely," said Standard Bank trader Warrick Butler.The weaker ran...

Subscribe now to unlock this article.

Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).

There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.

Cancel anytime.

Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.