An interesting complaint has landed on the desk of public protector, Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka. It is requesting her office to investigate comments made by DA boss, Helen Zille. Zille is alleged to have leveraged the fluctuation of the Rand to obtain political advantage over the ANC during the recent government of national unity (GNU) negotiations.
The NPO, African Rights Advocacy (ARA), submitted the complaint last month. It is requesting Gcaleka to investigate alleged breaches of the Competition Act and/or the Financial Markets Act by Zille.
Used the value of the Rand as lever in negotiations
During a recorded interview with the Frederick Newman Foundation last month, a liberal outfit in support of the DA, Zille told the interviewer that “the strongest lever the DA had by far” during the negotiations “is the value of the Rand”.
“Every time things were going well; the Rand would go up, up, up, up, up. And every time things went badly, the Rand plummeted. The bond market was exactly the same. It was extraordinary. I tracked the value of the Rand against the timeline of the negotiations, and there’s an absolute correlation,” said Zille.
“Once, on the 11th of June when we were supposed to have the negotiation, the ANC just did not rock up.
“We waited the whole day and they didn’t come. So, I just called a journalist, and they wrote about it in the newspaper the next day. And the Rand went right down.
“I didn’t do that to get the Rand down, I did that to say to the ANC, ‘don’t mess us around’, you know.”
Integrity of financial markets put into question
ARA secretary general Vuyiswa Tyhalwa says Zille’s comments shouldn’t be taken lightly. Tyhalwa said the comments could put the integrity of the financial markets into question. This especially as far as their role may be concerned in the DA’s alleged leveraging of the Rand’s fluctuation.
“Zille suggested that she and the DA manipulated the Rand’s value to their advantage by disseminating negative reports during the GNU negotiations with the ANC.
“This alleged manipulation raises concerns about the role and integrity of South Africa’s financial markets. Where matters of national interest are concerned, like this GNU paradigm shift in social engineering,” said Tyhalwa.
The complaint goes to the heart of the strategies that were employed by Zille and the DA. These eventually forced the ANC into a coalition on pretty much their terms.
Tyhalwa said it was these comments that led to his organisation eventually taking action.
“There was a trend developing. It suggested that the country is being held to ransom. This through the alleged deliberate manipulation of the markets for political gain,“ he said.
Zille said in the interview that without Ramaphosa, the so-called GNU is likely to collapse. This explains why she had to demonstrate the influence the DA has over the financial markets should it be excluded or not get its way.
Confirmation of suspicions within the ANC ranks
“We know that the ANC is not averse to removing, or recalling as they call it, their presidents. The ANC also does polling, and they are getting good at it. They reviewed their numbers before they went into this election. If they lose Ramaphosa, they go down, if they are lucky, to 25% or 20%.
“One of the strongest things we had in the negotiation, the strongest lever the DA had by far – is the value of the Rand,” she said.
Whatever decision Gcaleka decides to take, Zille’s comments could still very well be seen as confirmation of suspicions within the ANC ranks. Those who believe that the fledgling party has given too much power to the DA to save Cyril and his faction.
