BY: BASTIAN TEICHGREEBER, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER AT PRESCIENT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

South Africa’s rand has had an exceptionally volatile year, almost reaching R20 to the dollar in May before strengthening to about R17.27 in late July and then weakening again to trade between R18 and about R19.30 to date. Most notable about the domestic currency’s weakness is that it has been weak on a relative basis compared with some of the other emerging market currencies and not just against the US dollar, which suggests that there are other forces at work.