Johannesburg - The rand has recovered somewhat against the dollar as fraud charges against Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan are dropped.
Earlier this morning, the currency was trading at R13.75, but it improved rapidly in value after National Prosecutions Authority head advocate Shaun Abrahams withdrew charges.
This lead to a rally in the local currency, which shot to R13.61 before settling to R13.63 as the news began to sink in.
Abrahams, addressing reporters, said Gordhan did not act with criminal intentions when he approved former senior South African Revenue Service official Ivan Pillay’s early retirement.
This approval, it had been argued, was not lawful and also cost the country more than a million.
Read also: NPA drops charges against Gordhan
In recent weeks, business leaders have rallied around Gordhan, who last Wednesday presented a medium-term budget that spoke to the nd to cut more costs and tighten belts, and hinted that taxes would have to go up to boost a stagnant revenue base.
Gordhan is also battling the country’s high debt costs.
Other former senior Sars officials who were set to be charged, Pillay and Oupa Magashula, will also no longer face criminal charges.
The three were scheduled to appear in the Pretoria Regional Court on Wednesday.
Gordhan has been under investigation by the Hawks since he presented his main budget in February when the unit sent him 27 questions on the rogue unit at Sars.
Abrahams said Pillay and Magashula had made representations to indicate there was no intention to commit any crime with the approval of early pension for Pillay.
IOL