The ANC wants unions, taxis and stokvels to own the Reserve Bank: report
The ANC will continue to push for the nationalisation of the Reserve Bank, but will also ensure that the central bank maintains its independence, says ANC acting spokesperson and national executive committee member, Dakota Legoete.
He was speaking at the party’s post-annual lekgotla press briefing at Luthuli House on Tuesday (22 January).
While Legoete did not provide details as to when the ANC would introduce official legislation regarding the change, he did provide an idea of who could take new ownership of the bank.
“By public ownership of the Reserve Bank we mean that that public investment companies like the PIC, the IDC, like stokvels that we have, like agricultural unions, like taxi associations, individual burial societies, through a share scheme to get access to the Reserve Bank so that whatever we get as income and revenue must first and foremost help South Africans,” he said.
He added that the bank is currently 60% owned by foreigners which meant that most revenue or shares growth from the bank ultimately ends up leaving the country.
“Even though we accept direct foreign investment – to a certain extent we must talk about South Africans owning their own public assets as part of us broadening economic participation and economic ownership,” he said.
Independent
While the discussion surrounding the nationalisation of the Reserve Bank continues, the ANC has repeatedly reiterated that it has no intentions of interfering with the independence of the Reserve Bank.
Speaking at a pre-Davos conference earlier in January, president Cyril Ramaphosa said that governing party had instead asked the central bank to broaden its focus to boost employment and economic growth.
The governing party is essentially saying we have got a burning platform with regard to employment, and we would like everyone to focus on the creation of jobs.
“Clearly there is nothing wrong with that,” he said.
As part of its election manifesto released on 12 January, the ANC called for the SARB to ‘pursue a flexible monetary policy regime, aligned with the objectives of the second phase of transition’.
Reports from within the ANC have claimed that the nationalisation of the Reserve Bank is a factional issue within the party, with supporters of Ramaphosa being against the terminology being used – while those aligned to former president Jacob Zuma, pushing this particular agenda.
The Reserve Bank said its position on the matter is clear, and it will no longer rebut or comment on what politicians say about its nationalisation. The bank said it will challenge any policies or legislation that emerges to challenge its independence.
Read: No plans to interfere with Reserve Bank independence: Ramaphosa
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