Rand jumps as DA remains committed to GNU
South Africa’s second-biggest political party said it remains committed to the country’s so-called national unity government as it works to resolve a dispute over new laws approved by President Cyril Ramaphosa. The rand gained.
“We are fully committed to the GNU,” Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen told reporters on Tuesday in Johannesburg.
“But we need to make sure that the DA, as the second-largest party, is allowed to express itself and put alternatives on the table. If that is not possible, it makes future involvement in the GNU incredibly difficult to justify.”
Investor concern about the stability of the nation’s seven-month-old coalition government increased after the DA said at the weekend that it’s declared a formal dispute over what it says was inadequate consultation over contentious policies.
The rand strengthened as much as 1% after Steenhuisen’s comments on Tuesday, reversing an earlier loss of 0.7%, and traded at R18.67 per dollar by midday in Johannesburg.
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