JOHANNESBURG - The rand traded at R11.66 against the US dollar as Cyril Ramaphosa was announced as the new president of South Africa, following the resignation of former president, Jacob Zuma.
Ramaphosa, 65, was the sole candidate put forward by the National Assembly and takes up the top post two decades after he was considered by Nelson Mandela as his successor, only to be pushed aside by the party in favour of Thabo Mbeki.
His nomination was seconded by veteran ANC MP Joan Fubbs, who said: "He is a selfless, disciplined leader and he knows he is here to serve the people of South Africa."
Ramaphosa rose and accepted the nomination with a smile and a loud ''yes, I do".
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The local currency which has been the best performing currency against the dollar post the ANC elective conference in December was set to remain steady at around R11.70 against the dollar mark in the coming sessions.
Bianca Botes, an analyst at Peregrine Treasury Solutions, said the rand is expected to trade in a range of R11.70 to R12 against the greenback, leading up to the budget speech next.
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“Should the state of the nation and the budget speech go down without too much criticism, one can almost assume that Moody's will hold off from downgrading South Africa’s credit rating for the time being,’’ Botes said.