25 May 1995
The attempt by Reserve Bank Governor Chris Stals Lo stifle debate in the Constituent Assembly on the nature of the bank's independence once more rise serious questions around his own independent. Stals, like any other South African, has every right to make his views known to the CA. What is particularly anomolous, however, is that he has chosen to make his Intervention, written in extremely emotive language, in a letter to NP MP Francois Jacobsz, rather than to all members of the relevant CA theme committee. Stals, a public servant, is playing party political games.
The SACP supports the principle that the Reserve Bank should be insulated from partisan interest. We also believe that this independence should be balanced with mechanisms to ensure that the Bank is accountable to the broad, democratically mandated, goals of government. The Bank must not be used (as Stals seems intent to do) as a bastion of conversation from which to undermine the reconstruction and development policies of the country.
The present Board of Governors of the Bank, in its composition, in the dogmatic monetarist ideology and personal backgrounds of its members, is deeply connected with one powerful, factional interest in our country. Stals's surprising intervention this week underlines the point.
The other major public but autonomous structures, that require both technical competence and broad based acceptability (the Independent Broadcasting Authority, of the constitutional Court, for instance), a transparent and extensive process of interviewing and vetting has occurred.
Is it not time that the Board of Governors of the Reserve Bank was appointed in the same way?
Signed: Jeremy Cronin
Deputy General Secretary