DAVID SHAPIRO: Cyril did well to stash those dollars
The greenback is the only investment that has offered safety from the meltdown in financial markets this year
However much we choose to maul President Cyril Ramaphosa over concealing the robbery of a cupboard full of dollars from his farm in Limpopo, we can’t challenge his investment foresight, even if he might have contravened exchange control regulations and not observed appropriate levels of corporate governance.
Holding cash in dollars has been the only game in town; the only investment that has offered safety against the meltdown experienced in financial markets this year. A dollar would have bought R16 on January 1 and R18 on October 1. If he had continued keeping those dollars stashed away, which I am sure was Cyril’s investment plan all along, the alleged $4m that went missing would have been worth R8m more this year alone. That’s a gain of 12.5%, compared with a loss of 14% on the JSE all share index...
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