Former President Thabo Mbeki weighed in on the debate about the nationalisation of the Reserve Bank, saying such a move would be pointless, notes a Business Day report. The comments from the former leader, whom the ANC forced out of office in 2008, are at odds with some in the governing party, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, who told Parliament in March that doing away with the bank’s private shareholders would give the country ‘sovereignty’.

But, adds the report, the intervention is likely to be welcomed by the bank’s Governor Lesetja Kganyago, who has previously warned that election-driven ‘crazy ideas’ about the bank’s ownership and mandate would harm investor confidence, while buying out its shareholders would divert resources from key developmental needs.

‘I really to this day do not know what anyone would gain by the nationalisation of the Reserve Bank, except to say’ they had done it, Mbeki said during a visit to the ANC pavilion at the Rand Easter Show to pledge his support for the ANC ahead of the 8 May elections.

‘Nothing would change in terms of the behaviour of the Reserve Bank, nothing.’

The bank’s independence is at the heart of policy differences between the ANC faction aligned to former President Jacob Zuma and the grouping supporting Ramaphosa, notes the report. Credit rating agencies have cited the bank’s independence and the credibility of other institutions, such as the judiciary, as some of the country’s biggest strengths and warned that tampering with its autonomy would lead to downgrades, with disastrous consequences for the economy.

Full Business Day report