Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- South African Reserve Bank Governor Gill Marcus, who takes office today, has been welcomed by everyone from business leaders to labor unions. The unions are likely to be the first to be disillusioned.

Marcus, 60, is the ninth leader of the 88-year-old bank, taking over from Tito Mboweni, who clashed with unions for sticking to a policy that aims to keep inflation within a target range of 3 percent to 6 percent. Mboweni declined to serve a third term in the position.

“The unions will clash with her,” said Nic Borain, a Cape Town-based political analyst whose clients include HSBC Holdings Plc. “The mandate on inflation targeting is set by the government and that hasn’t changed. It’s going to be the same- old, same-old. She won’t cower under pressure.”

Marcus chairs her first Monetary Policy Committee meeting next week, with the Congress of South African Trade Unions calling for a rate cut of at least 1 percentage point to ease unemployment. The key rate was held at 7 percent for a second consecutive meeting on Oct. 22 as the economy’s first recession in 17 years eased and energy costs threatened to fuel inflation.

Inflation, which slowed to 6.1 percent in September, has exceeded the central bank’s target for more than two years.

“It’s unlikely we’ll get a cut” at next week’s rate meeting, said Jac Laubscher, an economist at Sanlam Ltd., the biggest South Africa-owned life insurer. “The inflation outlook hasn’t changed from the last meeting.”

Unions

The unions who helped sweep President Jacob Zuma to power this year want the bank’s interest rate policy to focus more on cutting unemployment.

“The change of guard at the Reserve Bank is a good time to also look at changing the mandate of the bank,” said Cedric Gina, president of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, the country’s second-biggest labor union. “We are not happy with interest rates where they are.”

Miners, such as Anglo Platinum Ltd., the world’s biggest producer of the metal, and carmakers including Volkswagen AG have cut thousands of jobs, pushing the jobless rate to 24.5 percent, the highest of 62 countries tracked by Bloomberg.

Lower rates would also help weaken the rand, aiding exporters, Gina said. South Africa’s benchmark rate compares with 1 percent in the euro region and between zero and 0.25 percent in the U.S. That has fueled a 25 percent rally in the rand against the dollar this year.

Under Pressure

Marcus hasn’t given any interviews since her appointment or made public comments about the inflation-targeting policy that she helped implement and defend at the Reserve Bank while deputy governor from 1999 to 2004. At the time, she said “overly low” interest rates aren’t sustainable and the bank’s role isn’t to devise strategies to boost employment.

“We strongly support her appointment,” said Neren Rau, chief executive officer of the Johannesburg-based South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “She will no doubt face substantial pressure to reassess the approach to inflation targeting. She is not a character to be easily swayed.”

Marcus was most recently chairwoman of Absa Group Ltd., South Africa’s biggest retail bank controlled by Barclays Plc. Her appointment as chief executive officer of Western Areas Ltd., which owned half of the world’s biggest gold deposit, on Nov. 18, 2005, caused the company’s shares to post their biggest one-day gain in three years.

‘Sticks To Her Guns’

“She’ll maintain continuity in keeping inflation low,” said Ian Plenderleith, a former Bank of England policy maker who worked alongside Marcus as deputy governor at the Reserve Bank before his retirement in 2005. “She’s an experienced political leader, an experienced central banker and is capable of picking up the reins from Governor Mboweni.”

Marcus, who was born in Johannesburg, holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of South Africa. She worked for the ruling African National Congress while in exile in the U.K. from 1969, returning to South Africa in 1990. She was elected to parliament in the country’s first all-race elections in 1994, heading up the parliamentary finance committee before moving to the National Treasury.

“She’s clearly opinionated and sticks to her guns,” said Bernard Swanepoel, former chief executive officer of Harmony Gold Mining Co., who was also a director of the board at Western Areas when Marcus led the company. She “is a very good choice for governor.”

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To contact the reporters on this story: Nasreen Seria in London nseria@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 9, 2009 08:30 EST