S. Africa's ANC withdraws motion on nationalization of central bank

CAPE TOWN, March 6 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) in Parliament announced Tuesday to have withdrawn its motion "on full public ownership on the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) in line with international practice."

The motion to nationalize the privately owned central bank had been scheduled for debate Tuesday afternoon.

The ANC's parliamentary caucus did not give reasons for the withdrawal. A call to the Office of the ANC Chief Whip went unanswered.

The ANC proposed the central bank be nationalized at its 54th national conference last December. The proposal would see the government owning 100 percent of the bank's shares instead of the current arrangement where the shares were held by a number of private shareholders.

The change in its policy towards the SARB is seen as the ANC's move to win back investors' confidence after Cyril Ramaphosa took over Zuma as the ANC president and the president of the state.

However, the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) voiced concern over the move, calling the decision "unmandated."

"The reasons behind the withdrawal of the motion are flimsy and not politically convincing," the ANCYL said.

The withdrawal suggests that some of the leading figures in the ANC remain "captured," and abuse their positions of power to advance the interests of white monopoly capital, ANCYL national spokesperson Mlondi Mkhize said.

"As the ANCYL we reiterate our call for the nationalization of the SARB, including banks and other monopoly industries to be in the hands of the people under the custodianship of our democratic state," he said.

The SARB, meanwhile, insisted that changing the ownership structure of the bank could raise the level of risk and uncertainty for the country in both the financial and economic policy sense.

Unlike most central banks in the world, the SARB has been privately owned since it was established in 1921, but its shareholders have no control over monetary policy, financial stability policy or banking regulation.

As a result, the bank has been criticized for failing to help boost the economy and create jobs. Enditem