Cape Town - The rand was steady on Friday afternoon after National Prosecuting Authority boss Shaun Abrahams announced that the prosecution of President Jacob Zuma would go ahead. 

The rand was trading at R11.95 to the dollar at 15:25, after opening at R11.89 to the greenback. 

At 15:45, after Abrahams read a short statement, the currency was trading at R11.94/$. 

"After consideration of (the) matter I am of the view that there are reasonable prospects of a successful prosecution of Mr Zuma," said Abrahams. 

He said Zuma has already been informed about the decision 

Earlier on Friday Andre Botha, a dealer at TreasuryONE, said the rand was trading slightly weaker based on a number of factors, including general emerging market weakness and international concerns around what route South Africa’s land expropriation without compensation process will take. 

Heading into next week, Botha said he expects the rand to continue to trade on the back foot with three major decisions to be announced. These include interest rate decisions in the US and South Africa, as well as a ratings announcement on South Africa’s sovereign credit rating by Moody’s.

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