EDITORIAL: Reserve Bank at centre of political divisions
Finance minister Tito Mboweni — who was the eighth governor of the Bank — has rightly warned against politicising the Bank. His comrades have not been listening.
The response to the ANC’s manifesto has been somewhat muted given the inclusion of some contentious clauses, including one on the mandate of the Reserve Bank. The future and role of the Bank has in recent years gotten caught up in the fights within the ANC, culminating in the 2017 resolution to push for its nationalisation, allegedly at the insistence of the faction linked to former president Jacob Zuma, as part of their radical economic transformation rhetoric. Whether they had any appreciation of the workings of the Bank, or the fact that the shareholding has no bearing on monetary policy, is unclear. What is clear now is that the Bank is at the centre of the battle between factions in the governing party. Finance minister Tito Mboweni — who was the eighth governor of the Bank — has rightly warned against politicising the Bank. His comrades have not been listening. Both Mboweni and President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday gave assurances that the independence of the central bank was...
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