RESERVE BANK MANDATE
Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane defends Presidency meeting
Presidency meeting was held ‘because the apartheid-era bail-out of Bankorp report called for a commission of inquiry’
Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has defended her decision to meet the Presidency’s legal advisers before releasing her contentious report in which she instructed Parliament to change the Reserve Bank’s mandate from protecting the value of the currency to focusing on the "socioeconomic wellbeing of the citizens". The report on the apartheid-era bail-out of Bankorp, its subsequent purchase by Absa and the Ciex investigation into it, has been challenged by the Reserve Bank, Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba and Absa. Mkhwebane has since conceded that the remedial action on changing the Bank’s mandate should be set aside. The entire report is the subject of a judicial review. The public protector and her team appeared before Parliament’s justice portfolio committee on Thursday to discuss her office’s report for the 2016-17 financial year. Opposition MPs questioned Mkhwebane on her decision to call for the Reserve Bank’s mandate to be changed and the rationale for meeting the Presidency...
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