FINANCIAL FUNDIS
F o r p ro f i t
or for people
The great debate surrounding the South African Reserve Bank has
been focused on transferring ownership into the hands of the people.
O
ne thing that most people know,
or should know, about the South
African Reserve Bank (SARB) is
that it’s one of the few privately
owned government institutes in
the world. The lingering issue highlighted by
political parties such as the Economic Freedom
Fighters (EFF) is how the institute should be
state-owned in order to serve the best interests
of South Africans.
Formed by the South African government in
1921, based on the United Kingdom’s Reserve
Bank model, a distinguishing factor of the
establishment is how it was privately owned.
IMBO/ ISSUE 31/ '14
Despite all this, the SARB is still held accountable
by the government for any and all action it takes.
A soothing fact about the SARB is how the heaps
of shareholders grasp absolutely no power when
it comes to decision-making or how the institute
is managed. Besides this, the nationalization
of the Reserve Bank is a near impossible task
when considering how the government owns
less than 1%. Were the government to request
nationalization, they’d have to hope the privately
owned organization would approve.
Currently, there are 660 shareholders who
receive a dividend of R0.10 per share every
year. The remaining profit goes straight to the
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