Rand goes into free fall, then ANC retweets it

Amid frenzied speculation and alarm that President Jacob Zuma has not only axed Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas but also another 13 unlucky ministers and deputies, the rand has gone into the kind of sudden drop last seen when Zuma unexpectedly axed the former finance minister, Nhlanhla Nene.

It has now been confirmed that Gordhan has been removed, with Malusi Gigaba replacing him.

Neil Sinclair tweeted a graph of the damage so far. The rand had actually been doing well prior to this week, heading back to as high as R11 to the dollar. But Zuma obviously had other ideas.

Bizarrely, the ANC’s official Twitter account retweeted the devastating economic news, which led to scorn from many.

One user wondered if the party was merely oblivious to its own role in this or whether they might actually be boasting.

Here are some of the other responses: