Johannesburg - The nationalisation of the SA Reserve Bank could be on the way if the invitation for public comments by Parliament is anything to go by.
Parliament has published a notice inviting the public to make written comments on a draft bill proposed by EFF leader Julius Malema to amend the SARB Act. It said Malema had given a notice to introduce an amendment bill.
The move comes hot on the heels of another private member’s bill by Malema’s deputy, Floyd Shivambu, to amend the Banks Act to make it possible for state-owned companies to register and conduct business as a bank.
Malema’s bill comes barely six months after the ANC had resolved at its 54th national conference that the SARB be 100% owned by the state.
According to the parliamentary notice, the bank has 650 shareholders other than the government. “The bill seeks to amend the act to make the state a sole holder of the shares of the bank.”
The draft bill will provide for the state as sole shareholder.
It also provides for the president, in consultation with the Minister of Finance and Parliament, to appoint the governor, deputy governors and all other directors of the bank.
Comments opened on May 28 and run for 30 days. E-mail comments to Speaker Baleka Mbete at [email protected] and copy them to Gumani Tshimomola at [email protected] not later than June 25.
Neither Malema nor EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi could be reached for comment.
It will be the third time that the EFF has acted on resolutions taken by the ANC on certain issues.
In December, the ANC conference noted that it was a historical anomaly that there were private shareholders of the Reserve Bank. “The conference resolves that the Reserve Bank should be 100% owned by the state. The government must develop a proposal to ensure full public ownership in a manner that does not benefit private shareholder speculators.”
The party had also resolved that the expropriation of land without compensation should be among the mechanisms available to the government to give effect to land reform and redistribution.
Parliament has started a process to consider mechanisms to enable expropriation of land without compensation after Malema’s motion was adopted earlier this year.
There is also another bill sponsored by the EFF on the establishment of a state bank.