Rand hits two and a half year high after ANC decides to vote Zuma out

The rand jumped more than 1% to its firmest since June 2015 and bonds hit a one-week best on Wednesday, after the ruling African National Congress (ANC) said it would proceed with a vote to remove President Jacob Zuma from office.

At 13:40 SAST the rand was 1.1% firmer at 11.82 per dollar, Reuters reported.

It earlier rallied to a session best R11.79 just after the ANC’s parliamentary caucus said it would support a motion of no-confidence brought by an opposition party against Zuma and due to be heard in the house on Thursday.

The cost of insurance on the rand also rose sharply, with the price of one-week options increasing nearly 30%, while

Bonds also firmed, with the yield on the benchmark 2026 paper down 6 basis points at 8.395%.

Stocks gained, with the Johannesburg bourse’s index of 40 blue-chip shares up 0.5% at 50,658 points, while the All-Share index rose 0.5 percent to 57,501 points.

Zuma’s response

In an exclusive interview with the SABC, Zuma insisted that he has done nothing wrong, and had never been furnished with any evidence of any wrongdoing by the ANC’s NEC or anyone else.

In full defiance of the wishes of his party, Zuma said he is being treated unfairly, and needs to be given reasons why he needs to be recalled as leader of the country.

The ANC said that it was necessary to restore political stability in the country and to remove the two centres of power that were forming within the party. The NEC’s position was that Zuma should be recalled, and new ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa should take his place.

Meanwhile, the ANC’s parliamentary caucus was not wasting any time waiting for Zuma’s response, announcing on Wednesday that they would proceed with passing a motion of no confidence in the president.

Speaker of the National Assembly, Baleka Mbete confirmed that the EFF’s motion of no confidence has been brought forward for debate on Thursday, where the vote would take place with an open ballot.

The ANC’s caucus said it would make amendments to the reasoning of the motion, and would vote with the EFF.

Zuma has in the past said that he would not resign of his own accord, but would bow to the wishes of the ANC if they ever decided to recall him.

Read: ANC wants to pass motion of no confidence in Zuma tomorrow