FINANCE Minister Trevor Manuel said the weakening of the rand could be attributed to the US currency’s strength more than rand weakness. “There is so much uncertainty and so much turmoil, and what is often read as weakening of some currencies is inordinate strengthening of the dollar against large baskets of currencies,” Manuel told parliament’s finance committee on Tuesday.”In fact this is the South African story of late. Every time I open a newspaper I see ‘rand weakened’ when in fact if you look at the picture globally against a basket of currencies it is a strengthening of the dollar,” he said.