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Cape Town - Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) said in a strongly worded statement directed at President Jacob Zuma that destabilising the National Treasury would be the ultimate "own goal".
Rumours are rife that Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas will soon be removed by Zuma following a surprise recall on Monday from an international investor roadshow barely a day after they started the week-long excercise to the UK and US.
The rand plunged more than any other major currency following the recall from a near two-year high of R12.31 to R13.11 in no time at all, but managed to recover on the news of a push-back from three members of the ANC Top 6 against an apparent plan by Zuma to axe Gordhan and Jonas.
READ: Rand runs on news that ANC top brass oppose Zuma's Gordhan axing
By late morning on Thursday the rand was trading up 0.78% at R12.93/$.
BLSA said in the statement released on Thursday that if President Jacob Zuma has credible reasons for the "crisis unleashed" by his order for Treasury to summarily end an international road show, he needs to tell the nation why and put to bed the rumours which are "threatening" SA's democracy.
BLSA said that together with labour and business, Treasury was promoting South Africa to international investors and defending the country's credit rating before his abrupt recall.
"The President’s ongoing failure to provide an explanation for this highly provocative act will raise foreign investors’ and credit rating agencies’ concerns that the SA economy has become a pawn of political infighting, nefarious power plays and self-interest," said BLSA.
"In the absence of a plausible explanation, it is very difficult not to conclude that the president put his own agenda, which remains unknown to the public, ahead of the country’s interests."
According to BLSA, Zuma's prerogative should be to provide dignified leadership in the interests of all South Africans.
READ: Rand 'shorters' banked big profits on Gordhan news
At the same time, it admitted that it is not for business to dictate to Zuma who he should appoint as finance minister.
"Nevertheless, this finance minister and his team at National Treasury have provided exemplary leadership following the after-shocks of [Nenegate]. The team at National Treasury has upheld disciplined and prudent fiscal policy," said BLSA.
"Partnering with business and labour in the CEO Initiative, Treasury has engaged all stakeholders and started to turn the economic tide. We are just beginning to see the 'green shoots' of recovery and they need to be nurtured, not strangled."
BLSA pointed out that rating agencies have been clear that the strength of SA's institutions separates the country from other markets whose economic fundamentals are stronger, but have weaker governance frameworks.
"This is not interfering in our political autonomy. It is ratings agencies simply communicating that our governance improves our financial management and therefore our creditworthiness," according to BLSA.
"The president has also failed to provide policy clarity, certainty and effective administration. These failures will ramp up the costs and risks of investing in SA. They will worsen South Africa’s abysmal economic performance of the past seven years. They will render any notion of radical economic transformation stillborn. They will continue to impoverish the most vulnerable in our society. "
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