Lately I haven't been checking the exchange rates as I have had nothing extra to funnel out the country. Today I had a quick look and a bit stunned at the US Dollar dropping off in value against our local Rand's. I don't really follow these T/A graphs, but I am hoping for the Dollar to drop some more.
Every year I move some out through the side door/back door, but never the front door as the restrictions are ridiculous and crippling. There has been so much corruption happening that even doing it legitimately you are treated as though you are doing something wrong. There are heaps of forms to fill out and you have to prove the source of the funds.
I just find it ridiculous that your countries currency can fluctuate like crypto as it has gained over 30 % since May. If you look at the graph the Rand lost 30 percent in a 2 month period between March and May which is insane.
This is not surprising why prices are fluctuating so much and why anything imported sky rocketed over the lock down period. I don't have much confidence in the Rand and why I have bank accounts outside the country as this could kick off at any time. Normally December was a good time to move money as somehow the Rand seemed to recover virtually at the same time each year.
Moving money is not a problem if you know the right people and luckily I met someone who does just that. A friend of mine needed to buy some machine parts for his factory and would have been refused any more foreign purchases as he still had some orders outstanding. We met the contact in what must have looked like a drug deal with sports bags of cash and some serious eye contact. The guy was true to his word though as you wouldn't last 5 minutes in this game if you weren't.
I have got to know him quite well since and he leads an interesting life to say the least. He is basically the money mover for many and not something I could ever get mixed up in. Instead we have a Bitcoin ATM nearby and will use that even though we are limited with what we can deposit and send before alerting the authorities. I haven't checked, but I believe it is anything under $650 or R10 000 at a time with a maximum of 10 transactions per day and anything over gets flagged. The only issue is the 9.9% fee which is a bit harsh and maybe why the money guy is the better bet.
