Deputy finance minister David Masondo has taken a veiled swipe at fellow ANC leaders who he says are pushing for the nationalisation of the South African Reserve Bank because they stand to gain financially.
In an interview this week Masondo declined to give names but said some of his comrades could benefit if the government is forced to buy back Bank shares at inflated prices.
"We need to be careful about people who want to profit or benefit out of the sales of the private shares at the Bank," he told the Sunday Times.
"The Bank has some private shareholders, and thus its board of directors has some private board members. So the public ownership that is being talked about seems to relate to getting rid of the private shareholders.
"The Bank's board does not have any influence on monetary policy," said Masondo, a member of the ANC's national executive committee (NEC).
"Now, since the board has no influence on policy, it follows that if the private shareholding is removed that will also not impact on policy."
Now, since the board has no influence on policy, it follows that if the private shareholding is removed that will also not impact on policy.
— David Masondo
The nationalisation of the Bank was adopted as ANC policy at the Nasrec conference in 2017 after the "radical economic transformation" group, which is regarded as leading a fightback against President Cyril Ramaphosa, pushed for it strongly.
Masondo declined to elaborate further, but two other ANC NEC members told the Sunday Times they were aware that some of their comrades were being "lobbied" by private shareholders who hope to sell their shares to the government at an inflated price.
They said these colleagues had been persuaded by private interests to champion the nationalisation of the Bank in exchange for a cut in the profits that the shareholders would make by driving the share price well above the market rate.
"We cannot allow certain senior ANC people together with their handlers to benefit from this project of nationalisation," one of the sources said.
"We are not against nationalisation but against the agenda at play here. Some of us believe that we must play open cards with members at the national general council and not allow this resolution to become a political football."
In January, finance minister Tito Mboweni tweeted in reference to the drive to nationalise the Bank: "I am convinced that we adopted a wrong resolution."
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