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JOHANNESBURG. — The rand was relatively stable at much stronger levels yesterday morning, taking its lead from speculation that embattled President Jacob Zuma may not be able to serve out his full term in office. Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday that the ANC would discuss the options of removing Zuma from his position at the weekend, citing two unidentified senior party officials as sources.

But the ruling party’s spokesperson Zizi Kodwa has since brushed aside the report. Pressure has been building for President Zuma to step down since he fired Pravin Gordhan as finance minister in a controversial Cabinet overhaul, which prompted S&P Global Ratings and Fitch to downgrade the country’s debt to subinvestment grade.

The rand took a big knock in the days following the Cabinet changes, before subsequently regaining its footing. Last week, the Constitutional Court reserved the judgment in the case brought by opposition parties for the no-confidence vote in Zuma to be conducted via the secret ballot.

At 9.25m, the rand was at 13,0546 to the dollar from Tuesday’s 13,0754, at 14,5895 to the euro from 14,6207 and at 16,9451 to the pound from 16,9568. The euro was at $1,1175 from $1,1183. — BDLive.