CAPE TOWN - The rand made some major gains on Wednesday night as President Jacob Zuma resigned. The rand reached highs against the US dollar that it had not seen since 2015, as Zuma announced to the world that he would step down with immediate effect.
"I have always been a disciplined member of the ANC," said Zuma, in announcing that he was stepping down with immediate effect. He did not take questions from the assembled media.
The rand was trading at 2% higher and was at R11.71 to the dollar on Wednesday evening. The rand then strengthened even further to R11.66 to the dollar at the very moment that Zuma announced that he would be resigning. `
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If former president Zuma did not resign, he would have faced a vote of no confidence in Parliament on Thursday. By 22:59 the rand was trading 2% firmer at R11.71/$ after earlier weakening after Zuma, in an afternoon interview with the SABC, questioned why the ANC wanted him to step down.