STEVEN FRIEDMAN: Ace’s tricks no reason to bar debate on economic policy
Hysteria about changing the Bank’s mandate is unwarranted, especially since the supposed consequences will not automatically ensue
As ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule seems to know, it does not take much to trigger panic in the media and the markets.
It is safe to assume that Magashule does not care about the SA Reserve Bank’s mandate or whether it uses quantitative easing. What he does care about is undermining President Cyril Ramaphosa and his allies. Magashule’s faction is in trouble: it was rejected in the May election and some of its high-profile figures may face prosecution. So, his claim that the ANC agreed to change the Bank’s mandate was an attempt to discomfort Ramaphosa and his allies by creating the impression that they were not in control of the ANC. He must have exceeded even his own expectations...
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