The world probably thinks we’ve gone mad, warns economist
It is the Cyril camp versus the Magashule camp, using the bank as a football, says Dawie Roodt.
President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa addresses a public meeting, where the South African government is returning land lost during Apartheid to the descendants of the original inhabitants of rural areas around Ebenhaeser, on March 23, 2019, in the Western Cape Province, about 350km from Cape Town. – This land restitution is one of the largest to have taken place in the province, with a value of more than R350 000 000(US$25 000 000). Imbalanve of land ownership in South Africa due to colonial and Apartheid policies remains a major point of tension in the country, and will affect the upcoming elections on May 8, 2019. (Photo by RODGER BOSCH / AFP)
The continued bickering within the governing party surrounding the nationalisation of the country’s central bank has international investors wondering if the country’s leaders have “gone mad” and whether the correct people are in charge, according to a leading economist.
ANC top leaders had the country confused last week, with contradictory remarks on the expansion of the South African Reserve Bank’s mandate.
While ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule said the Reserve Bank should change its mandate, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni on social media disputed and corrected such claims. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office, meanwhile, had to release a statement on Thursday to clarify the president’s stance and to rebuke Magashule.
But the conflict between the ANC top brass is causing “immense damage” to South Africa and its reputation, as the Reserve Bank is being used as a political football, economist Dawie Roodt told The Citizen yesterday.
“I am not sure what the political game is here but it is obviously the Cyril Ramaphosa camp versus the Ace Magashule camp, which are simply using the Reserve Bank as a football and a toy to score political points. The damage to South Africa is already running into billions, because the rand has depleted significantly relative to other currencies,” Roodt said.
Contradictions between Magashule and the finance minister on changing the bank’s mandate could be sending a false message to the financial market. But there was clear ideological and leadership conflict in the ANC, Roodt said.
“We don’t know the ANC’s real ideology. Whether it is a neoliberal or communist organisation, for example, because Mboweni is saying one thing, Magashule another and Ramaphosa is saying something else. There is also leadership conflict.
“International investors and international journalists often ask me if we are going mad because it seems like we are. This is a power play … Changing the Reserve Bank mandate is not important. What is important is the message behind that – which is that incompetence is in charge – and that is what the financial market is concerned about.”
– rorisangk@citizen.co.za
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