South African Rand faces strong volatility as investors fear possible impeachment of the President

By: Chima Amara

The South African rand has faced strong volatility in the market within the past two weeks, especially as the impeachment voting for the President draws closer. The lawmakers will be expected to debate the case filed against the President this week on December 6, which will determine whether the bill will further be passed on to the assembly.

The Congress will be expected to vote on possible impeachment for the President while he faced the corruption charges filed against him by the former spy chief - Arthur Fraser.

The South African President - Cyril Ramaphosa has been under severe pressure amidst several calls for his resignation within the last six months. The issue was heated from June this year after Fraser filed a complaint with the police accusing the President of corruption charges for concealing the burglary action in his farm after a large amount of cash up to $4 million was stolen from his farm at Phala Phala under the Limpopo province in 2020.

The said cash appeared not to have been declared by the President amongst his assets according to the local money laundering regulations.

The President had pleaded not guilty to the crime. However, concerns over how such a large amount of money got to his farm and his failure to report the crime had further indicted him.

Though Ramaphosa has further denied not covering the case claiming he was away when the incident occurred and that he reported when he got the details of the incident, he is still to exonerate himself from the crime based on how such amount was brought into his farm known today as the farmgate scandal. His party members have been working to see how to address the scandal with many calling for his resignation.

The National Assembly will be expected to vote on whether the President would be impeached while he faced his corruption trials. A two-thirds majority in support of impeachment will be necessary to carry on with the impeachment. The voting is expected to take place next month.

As the date of the voting draws nearer, the South African rand has been exposed to strong volatility in the market as investors are unsure of the outcome of the vote. The rand lost over 1.5% value last week falling to a new low at 17.2720 per dollar at the market.