It’s lazy thinking
ROB ROSE: Don’t believe the hype in the rand rigging case
While some see the case against the rogue bank traders as part of a Gupta-led plot to demonise white business, the facts don’t support this
In July 2000, reports surfaced from India that Proteas cricket captain Hansie Cronjé had been recorded by police discussing rigging games with match-fixers. It’s a hoax, screamed the embedded journalists. The Guardian even reflexively asked why anyone would want to “smear Cronjé — the cricketing equivalent of Nelson Mandela, a man of unsullied character renowned for his dignity, good manners and commitment to the new SA”. Some smear. We know now that rushing to judgment before you’ve seen the evidence, simply because the guy went to a good school and was polite when he met your mom, doesn’t do anyone any credit. It’s a lesson that is apposite in the wake of last week’s filing of legal papers at the competition tribunal by 14 banks, responding to the competition commission’s claim that rogue traders had rigged the rand. Those banks filed “exceptions” to the claim.Their arguments ranged from claiming that the commission doesn’t have jurisdiction (the view of Bank of America Merrill Ly...
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