Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni warns that there will be consequences against banks that were implicated in the manipulation of the rand.
She said Standard Chartered was now working with the Competition Commission to give more information on other banks that were involved in currency rigging between 2007 and 2013.
Ntshavheni said on Monday they have been warning that the private sector has been trying to collapse the economy of the country.
The conduct of the banks to rig the currency over many years caused economic damage.
Standard Chartered reached a settlement agreement with the Competition Commission last week, where they agreed it would pay a fine of R43 million.
But the ANC, SACP and EFF and civil society said this was a slap on the wrist and they demanded more tough action.
The ANC and EFF called for the prosecution of those who were involved in currency manipulation.
The Competition Commission said the country lost trillions of rands during this period.
Ntshavheni said there must be consequences for the conduct of banks involved in the manipulation of the rand.
She said admission by Standard Chartered that it colluded with other banks showed the intention was to collapse the economy.
“’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 which has no interest in the development of this country,” said Ntshavheni.
She accused the private sector of engineering the collapse of the economy.
“They also self-feed to the narrative that there is a collapsing state and collapsing economy because that is what they wish for. But despite those efforts, the South African economy continues to be resilient.
“In terms of the work that is being done by the Competition Commission, Standard Chartered agreed to testify against other banks. At least Standard Chartered is going to form part of the witnesses in the prosecution so that we can have recourse. People cannot be left untouched because they wanted to collapse this country.
“There must be consequences, and there will be consequences,” said Ntshavheni.
The Progressive Professionals Forum called on the other banks to be held accountable for their actions.
President of the PPF, Kashif Wicomb said the banks did untold damage to the economy of the country.
Wicomb said the levels of corruption in the private sector must be exposed in all its forms.
The damage that was caused by currency manipulation was huge.
“We welcome this with bated breath and further call on other banks to do the right thing and redeem themselves from such disgraceful unethical conduct.
“The Forex Cartel, as it was called, did untold damage in various parts of our economy, the poor, middle class; impacting the price of goods and services in imports and exports, public and private debt, to mention a few. We hope that they have learnt their lesson,” said Wicomb.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
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