Parliament - South African Reserve Bank Governor Gill Marcus on Tuesday firmly ruled out trying to manipulate the rand to an ideal exchange rate level and described calls for the nationalisation of the institution as "nuts".
"I don't think we will take the approach of targeting a level. It is complex and has a lot of issues around it," she told Parliament's portfolio and select committees on finance.
"We do not even have a view of what an ideal exchange rate will be."
Marcus again rejected any notion that the central bank would seek to stabilise the much-traded local currency by aggressively building up its forex reserves.
"You have to be brave and you have to have big pockets. You will be taken on," she warned.
Marcus saw a recent public debate about the mandate of the central bank as in fact being about the different factors, such as job creation, the bank had to take into consideration when making decisions.
'I don't think this is healthy'
She complained that calls for the nationalisation of Sarb had led to a curious situation where a shareholder had tried to sell shares for the amount of R4 600.
"It is a very interesting question as to what is doing this. Is it greed?
"Who would want to push for the nationalisation of the Reserve Bank? It is nuts.
"They are creating a debate that is a false debate, that is not happening. I'm not saying we should not debate issues, but I don't think this is healthy."
ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe last month asked the party to discuss the nationalisation of the central bank.
Some say support from shareholders could be an opportunistic ploy to call for liquidation of the bank, because the Reserve Bank Act provides that, in that case, 60% of the bank's net assets would go to the government, and 40% to its shareholders.
Marcus said it was clear that some Sarb shareholders and board members put personal interest before that of the bank and this had created a "fraught" situation that should be reviewed.
"We need a board that can become a resource to the organisation."
The board routinely clashed with her predecessor Tito Mboweni, with one heated exchange leading to a hate speech complaint against the former governor.
Sarb is one of a few central banks in the world owned by private shareholders, although they have no say in its operations and policies.
- Sapa