President Cyril Ramaphosa. REUTERS/ESA ALEXANDER.
The rand was the worst performer in a basket of 25 developing-nation currencies, while SA’s 10-year sovereign yield jumped the most since May 2021. The sell-off was sparked by political turmoil as President Cyril Ramaphosa faced calls to resign due to potential breaches of the constitution over the theft of $580,000 stashed in furniture at the Phala Phala game farm that he owns.
“SA has fallen into a situation where there are concerns about political risk,” said Warrick Butler, the head of foreign-exchange trading at Standard Bank. “Exporters pull their offers when they think the rand is vulnerable and that’s exactly what happened now.” The ANC’s national executive committee will on Thursday discuss the findings by an advisory panel that there may be a case for Ramaphosa’s impeachment. The panel found the president may have violated sections of the constitution following the theft of the cash, hidden in a sofa at his farm.
Is the delay in response & decision on Phala Phala intentional to capture the benefits of the turmoil in the JSE & exchange rate fluctuations?