Page 203 - SARB: 100-Year Journey

The initial shock of having an interest rate decision announcement televised live has given way to familiarity. Even the minutia of how many MPC members had voted in favour of or against a particular decision was unheard of, but this has become par for the course at the central bank.
Although central bankers are not politicians per se, it is also true that they have to be deft political operators. In his interview for this publication, Stals emphasised that he was always careful not to be conflated with political activities, such as when he asked President Nelson Mandela not to announce his reappointment as Governor at the same time as the Cabinet of 1994. The practice continues in contemporary South Africa.
At the same time, Stals was sufficiently politically astute to ask President F W de Klerk in person to relieve the SARB of the tradition of presenting its proposed interest rates policy decisions to Cabinet for debate, a move that bolstered the independence of the central bank. A formal memorandum to the President in this regard might have displeased the Minister of Finance and other senior politicians, potentially embroiling the SARB in a political controversy it did not need.
This publication is about the history of the SARB, but the central bank’s story would be incomplete if not told within the context of the broad institutional reform that took place to align it to the final Constitution. The independence of the central bank was embedded in the Constitution, alongside other institutions designed to protect the country’s financial and economic policy machinery from undue political influence.
1. Labour Minister Tito Mboweni (right), Deputy President Thabo Mbeki (centre) and Governor Chris Stals (left) announcing to the media that Mboweni was headed to the SARB. /Reuters via Getty Images
2. From left to right: Lesetja Kganyago, Tito Mboweni and Trevor Manuel during the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies event at The Empire on 8 November 2017 in Johannesburg. /John Liebenberg/ Sunday Times/Gallo Images
3. Former South African President Nelson Mandela holds a new R5 coin, issued to celebrate his 90th birthday, next to Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel during a function on 7 July 2008 in Johannesburg. Five million coins, featuring a smiling portrait of the former president and human rights icon, went into circulation on 18 July 2008 as part of Mandela’s birthday celebrations. /STR/AFP/Getty Images
4. Outgoing Governor Gill Marcus (centre) congratulates her successor Lesetja Kganyago (left) as Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene reacts during a media briefing on 6 October 2014 in Pretoria. /Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters via Getty Images
5. Governor Lesetja Kganyago (right) and Finance Minister Tito Mboweni during the launch of the 25th anniversary of the constitutional democracy commemorative coin series on 5 June 2019 in Johannesburg. /Freddy Mavunda/Business Day/Gallo Images
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