The rand broke through R15 against the US dollar in evening trade on Wednesday after President Jacob Zuma announced the removal of Finance Minister, Nhlanhla Nene.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have decided to remove Mr Nhlanhla Nene as Minister of Finance, ahead of his deployment to another strategic position,\u201d Zuma said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The presidency didn’t elaborate on the move, but announced Nene’s replacement, ANC member of parliament, David Van Rooyen.<\/p>\n
Van Rooyen is the whip of the standing committee on finance and whip of the economic transformation cluster.<\/p>\n
He is a former executive mayor of Merafong Municipality and a former North West provincial chairperson of the South African Local Government Association.<\/p>\n
The rand slumped by more than 5% against the greenback shortly after the announcement was made,\u00a0 reaching a new record low of R15.3857, <\/strong>before regaining some ground to trade 2.17% weaker<\/strong> (R14.94)<\/strong> at 23h55 in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n The local currency was also weaker against the euro and British pound – at R16.46 (-3.52%)<\/span><\/strong>, and R22.67 (-3.31%) respectively.<\/span><\/p>\n Political analyst Daniel Silke told Fin24<\/a> that the removal of Nene sent the wrong signals about South Africa\u2019s already ailing economy.<\/p>\n Silke said the replacement of Nene will be questioned by anxious domestic and foreign investors alike on issues of fiscal prudence discipline going forward.<\/p>\n “This is the shortest reign of a finance minister and will create further doubts about cohesiveness of South Africa’s economic policy. Questions will be asked of Mr Nene\u2019s replacement. Will he for example apply continuity of policy?”<\/p>\n Zuma removes Nene as finance minister<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n How Jacob Zuma is allegedly plotting a third term as president<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nMore on SA finance<\/h3>\n