Now, who would have ever thought it? Some research outfit has discovered that “Black South Africans prefer paid jobs.” To have a job in a city beats the alternative of sitting on 100ha of rural land. Unless that land boasts a trout stream, sea view, golf course or interesting wild life I can only agree wholeheartedly with my fellow citizens.
Orlyfunt Holdings is reportedly a consortium that believes it would like to spend R1.4bn on a portfolio of assets currently held by JCI and Randgold. Aside from the delightful name there are several points to ponder in that particular statement. In the meantime it reminds us of the French plan to add a levy to airline tickets to fund aid for Africa. This thoughtful gesture to help their passengers in their charitable duty is worrying. It won’t be long before every business will be relieving customers of the tedium of remembering to make donations.
Back home, Minister van Schalkwyk showed a firm grasp of his Environmental Affairs and Tourism portfolio with the observation that climate change posed a major danger to the tourism industry. What he believes he can do to reverse these forces of nature was not explained. I suggest he taps “Katrina” and “New Orleans” into Google to see what bad weather can do for tourism. And then begin promoting the Karroo.
He and his cabinet colleagues also approved The National Freight Logistics Strategy which seeks “to ensure that the freight sector responds to the imperative of higher rates of economic growth”. To be fair I have not read this doubtless worthy document that was 18 months in the making. But I am deeply sceptical that any government can ever make lorries go faster or railways work. As I recall the last official word on this matter was to try and ban big trucks from the roads of Gauteng during rush hour.
Similar breathtaking insouciance was shown by the Western Cape Premier Rasool who claimed that unless business followed government prescriptions, the county’s growth target will not be met. I submit that just reading and filling out the forms he will want completed will knock several points off productivity and growth. No bureaucrat ever had a better way to do something than the guy who is trying to make a living from doing it.
One piece of state calumny that was good news, came from north of the Limpopo where the unexpected discovery of a stash of cash in Bob’s bottom drawer means that our own possible loan to him could be less than originally anticipated.
The JSE computers had a few bad hair days this week and trading was halted while the mechanics lathered up some fresh shampoo to get things going. Nevertheless we have seen a 600 point bull market that has taken us back to within 100 points of the all-time high set on the 16th August. Aside from the all too simple explanation that there are more buyers (and judging by the rand’s strength, overseas ones) than sellers, I have been told that the forthcoming futures close out on Thursday 15th will be a HUGE event. In preparation of that affair, traders are adjusting their Greeks, and this is at least one cause for recent volatility. No – I don’t understand either.
Nor do I understand how I can possibly support the Aussies when they meet the All Blacks in Auckland tomorrow. It will be a grim day.
James Greener
2nd September 2005
