Johannesburg - The rand reversed the deepest declines in emerging markets on Wednesday and government bonds snapped four days of losses after three of the top six officials in the ruling party were said to oppose President Jacob Zuma’s plan to dismiss Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.
The rand added 0.5 percent to R12.9307 to the dollar as of 3.38pm, reversing losses of as much as 1.3 percent.
At 5pm, however, the rand was bid at R12.9464 to the dollar, 3.55c softer than at the same time on Tuesday.
The ANC officials who are said to oppose Zuma’s plan include deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, secretary-general Gwede Mantashe and treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
The benchmark government bonds due December 2026 rose.