JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa’s rand weakened on Thursday after President Cyril Ramaphosa defended his decision to appoint a minister of electricity to try to end crippling power cuts.
At 1609 GMT, the rand traded at 18.1500 against the dollar, 0.68% weaker than its previous close.
Some lawmakers said the appointment would add a layer of bureaucracy as state utility Eskom is overseen by the public enterprises minister while the energy minister is responsible for procuring additional power generation capacity.
“(The power crisis) requires the undivided attention of a political principal who does not need to split their time and energies among different important responsibilities,” Ramaphosa said, responding to a debate by lawmakers on his State of the Nation Address.
On the stock market, the Top-40 and the broader all-share indexes closed about 1% higher, mostly helped by gains in the resources index.
The government’s benchmark 2030 bond was weaker in afternoon trade, with the yield up 4.5 basis points at 10.025%.
(Reporting by Nellie Peyton and Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Robert Birsel)
