In an interview with SABC on Sunday South African President Kgalema Motlanthe suggested that perhaps Zimbabwe could adopt the rand as its currency. What he surely means (or what I hope he means, if this gains traction, anyway) was that at some point down the road, under the right conditions, Zimbabwe could tie the Zimbabwean dollar to the rand much like Namibia pegs its dollar and Botswana pegs the pula to the rand.
For now Zimbabwean officials deny that any such plans are afoot — which is obviously true — but at some point down the road Zimbabwe is going to have to come to grips with its currency, and having it tied to the rand, and thus rationalizing the region’s currency much as the Euro has done for Europe does not seem like the worst idea. Obviously it would be a poison pill for South Africa to swallow any such plan now, but down the road, when Zimbabwe’s money is not worthless and when political stability fuels economic stability, South Africa will be called upon to help its neighbor across the Limpopo. Rationalizing currency values will surely be on the table.