The markets have not been unnerved by - and even welcome - much of what was contained in the proposed 2025 Budget.

South Africa's financial markets have acted in rather curious ways the past couple of days. In the wake of the non-Budget fiasco, they have not had a complete and utter meltdown.

This is what one might reasonably have expected given the shocking and unprecedented nature of the events that unfolded on Wednesday, 19 February 2025, when the plug was jarringly pulled on the finance minister's annual Budget Speech because of a massive spat over a proposed 2 percentage point hike in VAT that would have taken it to 17%.

It is the case that the rand lost some ground on Wednesday, sliding to 18.57/dollar at one point in the afternoon from 18.35/dollar in the morning.

But what is interesting to note is that its low was an extension of gains triggered by news of an emergency Cabinet meeting called by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa just before the scheduled presentation to Parliament at 2pm in a last-minute bid to get the Democratic Alliance (DA) on board.

When the tabling of the Budget was officially postponed, the rand slipped a bit more. But it did not go over...