Abstract
Abstract : This paper emanated from a motion the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a political party, endorsed earlier in 2018. The party tabled a Bill in Parliament, mainly calling for the nationalisation of the South African Reserve Bank. This kind of talk was not news to the nation, as the ruling party itself, the African National Congress, communicated its decision in December 2017 to convert the South African Reserve Bank to state ownership, however, to date, same has not materialised. The proposed Bill by the EFF, calls for the State to be the sole shareholder of the shares of the South African Reserve Bank; hence the paper will dedicate significant attention to the Bank’s shareholding structure and consider the effect of nationalisation and its potential impact on the Republic of South Africa. In a Financial Mail article dated 2 September 2018, the South African Reserve Bank’s governor, Leseja Kganyago, was quoted undertaking to protect the regulators’ independence and mandate in response to the proposed motion. The reaction to this motion has been intriguing, and this paper intends to address, explore and discuss the various elements of the South African Reserve Bank that are most likely to be affected should this actually occur. The purpose of the paper is to establish whether the exercise to nationalise the Bank is a worthy cause or whether it will just amount to having a cosmetic effect on the status quo. Ultimately, the paper establishes the adverse effects the South African Reserve Bank’s nationalisation could have on itsfunctionality as an accountable and independent entity proving it not to be such a worthy cause after all
LL.M. (Banking Law)