Cape Town — The ANC wants the banks that were involved in the rand manipulation to be implicated and to face criminal action.
ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri, the banks involved should face serious consequences for their involvement in the currency manipulation, as they were sabotaging the economy, IOL said.
She believes the R43m fine handed out to UK bank, Standard Chartered, was merely a slap on the wrist and she added that law enforcement agencies should pursue criminal charges against the banks.
The Competition Commission reached a settlement with Standard Chartered Bank this week, and the bank has agreed to give more information on other banks. 28 banks were investigated for rand manipulation, and these were local and international banks. The investigation by the commission was looking into the period from 2007 to 2013.
Standard Chartered and a dozen other financial institutions manipulated the rand as a strategy for removing President Zuma and ensuring the ascension of Cyril Ramaphosa.
These financial institutions will remain with their reputation intact while President Zuma’s reputation is… pic.twitter.com/vZLSdPHEOw
— Hughes (@MainlandAfrica) November 16, 2023
Bhengu-Motsiri said on Friday that when the rand lost its value at the time, the government was blamed, but in reality, the currency was under attack from messaging platforms.
“During this period, the ANC-led government was wrongly blamed for the depreciation of the rand. Meanwhile, our economy was under attack through messaging platforms like Bloomberg and Reuters.”
The ANC has found an unlikely ally in the EFF, who also called for action against the other banks that were involved in rand manipulation. The EFF said officials who were involved must be prosecuted for their conduct.
According to SABC News, the Competition Commission says implicated banks in the alleged rand manipulation have generated about a trillion rand a day between 2007 and 2013, the Divisional Manager for Cartels at the Competition Commission Makgale Mohlala told the Competition Tribunal this week.
The Competition Commission says the banks need to answer for their actions in the courts. This is after, the commission granted three banks leniency and settled with just two banks. Meanwhile, Five of the 28 banks have admitted to taking part in the alleged foreign exchange manipulation 16 years ago.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
