Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni and leader of the African Transformation Movement (ATM) Vuyo Zungula want the 28 banks implicated in the manipulation of the South African rand to be criminally charged.
On Monday, the minister indicated that the country’s economy remained resilient in spite of the attempts by the private sector to collapse it.
Ntshavheni briefed the media in Pretoria on Monday regarding the outcomes of last week’s Cabinet meeting.
“It is a very sad state. We have maintained over the period that the performance of the rand and sometimes the performance of the economy has been manipulated by the private sector, who have no interest in the development of this country,” she said.
On the other hand, Zungula called for bank executives, who conspired in what many regard as the biggest scandal to ever affect South Africa, to be criminally prosecuted for their involvement in the trillion-rand-a-day manipulation scandal.
Zungula said it was the government’s responsibility to oversee that every bank operates within the ambit of the law.
On Monday, the party filed an urgent request to National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula requesting an urgent parliamentary debate on the matter.
“The economic consequences of this conduct are far-reaching, affecting key sectors such as imports and exports, foreign direct investment, public and private debt, and the company balance sheets. Financial institutions including Absa, Standard Bank, Nedbank, FirstRand, Investec and others stand accused of compromising the economic well-being of our nation from 2007 to 2013.
“In light of the severity of these allegations, I am urgently requesting that the National Assembly convene for a debate on this matter before the upcoming recess. The urgency of his debate is underscored by by the need for a decisive action to address this treasonous act, and affirm the role of Parliament to safeguard the interests of the citizens and protect the vulnerable people against greedy, profit-driven companies,” he said.
Last week, Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) admitted to engaging in the manipulation of the rand alongside 27 other banks accused of engaging in unethical conduct.
Last Wednesday, the bank became another commercial bank that admitted to wrongdoing and agreed to pay a penalty of R42 million to the Competition Commission for its role in conspiring to rig trades involving the US dollar-rand currency pair.
The commission announced that it had entered into a settlement agreement with Standard Chartered, which “admitted liability” and agreed to pay an administrative penalty of R42.7m.
The Star