The Rand has weakened against the US Dollar due to reports of renewed labour unrest at Platinum producer Lonmin and as weaker Producer Price Index data stunted demand for the South African currency.
The world’s third largest Platinum producer Lonmin has said that up to 6,000 workers had gone on an illegal strike at its Marikan mine, which was the site of deadly clashes between workers and police last year. The strike last year saw 34 workers shot dead by police in the deadliest security incident since the end of apartheid in 1994. Today’s protest coincided with a visit by journalists to the site northwest of Johannesburg.
“This is the largest number of people who have refused to go underground since the end of the strike in August. It’s illegal. It’s not sanctioned,” Mark Munroe, Lonmin’s head of mining, told reporters.
The violence and upheaval in the South African mining sector was one of the main factors for the nation’s poor economic performance and led to a record widening of the country’s trade deficit. Investors had been hoping that the days of unrest had come to an end, today’s protests suggest otherwise.
Confidence was already sketchy but now it is set to fall once more.
The ongoing conflict between the rival trade union groups the AMCU and NUM is thought to be at the heart of the unrest which continues to severely hamper the gold and platinum mining sectors. Clashes between the two sides resulted in 50 deaths last year.
Current ZAR Exchange Rates
The South African Rand to Euro exchange rate is currently trading at 0.0846
The South African Rand to US Dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 0.1102
The South African Rand to Pound Sterling exchange rate is currently trading at 0.0727
The South African Rand to Australian Dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 0.10784
The South African Rand to New Zealand Dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 0.1335
The South African Rand to Canadian Dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 0.1132
These exchange rates were correct as of 12:55 pm GMT
Comments are closed.