Rand going from hero to zero

• The rand is expected to continue its decline in August, historically its worst month, due to seasonal factors and uncertainty over the central bank's policy stance.
• The South African Reserve Bank's decision to keep its policy rate on hold last week added to doubts about its hawkish bent, causing the rand to sag more than 2% against the dollar.
• The rand's decline is likely to continue due to the Federal Reserve's hawkish stance and the growing prospect of Fed rate hikes, which will erode the rand's yield pickup over the dollar.