ON MY MIND
DAVID MAYNIER: Malusi Gigaba is MIA
In the face of an onslaught on the independence of the Reserve Bank, one would at least expect the finance minister to step up. That hasn’t happened
Finance minister Malusi Gigaba has been missing in action in the fight to save the SA Reserve Bank. Just over two weeks ago, public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane ordered that a constitutional amendment was needed to alter the mandate of the Bank. This followed her investigation into the decades-old Bankorp "lifeboat" loan. Bizarrely, not only does the remedial action appear to have been beyond Mkhwebane’s powers, but it also appears to have been unrelated to her probe — and to have been inspired by a nutter such as Holocaust denier Stephen Mitford Goodson and thugs such as Black First Land First’s Andile Mngxitama. Unsurprisingly, the market reaction was swift: the rand tanked, depreciating by 2.05% — from R12.79 against the dollar to R13.05 — in a couple of hours; nonresidents dumped R1.3bn of government bonds; and there was a sell-off of shares in the banking sector worth R365m. It was not long before the ratings agencies were on the blower — including S&P, which regards the Bank’s...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.