South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) resolved at a party conference that monetary policy should be implemented "in a balanced manner, taking into account growth, employment and exchange rate factors," a document seen by Reuters showed.

The document on the conference resolutions also said the constitutional independence of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) must be reaffirmed and that the private ownership of the bank must be corrected in a way that does not enrich speculators or overburden public finances.

There was no mention in the conference resolutions on economic transformation of altering the mandate of the SARB via a constitutional amendment, an issue that has spooked investors in the past because the bank has a strong reputation for acting independently.

The central bank's primary focus, as spelled out in the constitution, is currently "to protect the value of the currency in the interest of balanced and sustainable economic growth".

ANC Chairman Gwede Mantashe

last week

told Bloomberg that the party wanted the central bank's mandate to be expanded, briefly causing the rand to fall. (Reporting by Kopano Gumbi Editing by Alexander Winning)