The South African Rand softened against the Pound and a number of other major peers as investors were concerned that labour unrest could return to South Africa follow the murder of a senior member of a major trade union.
A man, thought to be a senior member of South Africa’s National Union of Mineworker’s (NUM) was shot dead overnight in the restive town of Marikan which resides in the platinum belt. The area has seen sporadic violence between rival unions.
Clashes between NUM and its rival group the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) have led to the deaths of several mineworkers and the ongoing turf war shows little sign of abating.
Police spokesman Thulani Ngubane confirmed a man was shot on Thursday night but did not release his name and said the reason for the shooting was unknown.
“He was on his way to the informal settlement that is next to Lonmin. As he was about to pick up his girlfriend, four men opened fire at his vehicle. He got out of the car and he got hit by seven bullets and then died on the scene,” he said.
A spokeswoman for Lonmin said that the victim was the NUM chairperson at the Roland shaft at the company’s western platinum mine.
As a result of labour unrest the South African mining sector has been badly weakened. Protests and strikes over pay and job losses has harmed the output of many of the nations mines.
The Rand managed retreated from a three-week high against the US Dollar after but received some support from increased expectations that the recent turmoil in the United States will cause the Federal Reserve to delay tapering its monetary easing programme until early 2014. If the Fed does decide to delay cutting it will strengthen demand for riskier emerging market currencies such as the Rand.
Current South African (ZAR) Exchange Rates:
The US Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 9.9842
The Pound Sterling/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 15.9228
The Euro/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 13.4611
The Australian Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 9.4951
The New Zealand Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of 8.3568
The Canadian Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently trading in the region of 9.5638
(Correct as of 10:40 am GMT)
Comments are closed.