Remember the "flash crash" two years ago that took the rand close to a record of R18/US$, R23/£ and almost R18/€? It was the point when some doomsday commentators gave up on SA, invoking a future where the rand slid rapidly to R20/$ as the country lurched into anarchy and decay. At the time it was normal to see the rand rated as the worst performer globally and the country listed as among the emerging markets most vulnerable to the global sell-off that was under way. So South Africans should be forgiven for feeling some elation at the rand powering back to R11,86/$ last week — its strongest in almost three years. It has also managed a respectable R16.81/£ and R14.72/€. Rand Merchant Bank currency strategist John Cairns had expected the rand to strengthen to R12.50/$ if deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa won the ANC election in December and to reach R12/$ only by the end of this year. "So it has done a lot better than we thought," he says. "We got there on January 24." Apart from SA’s ...
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