After spending a superb but extremely hot long weekend in the bush in Umfolozi I unfolded the free map that I had been handed at the petrol station. Emblazoned with the proud claim to have been published by the tourism board of The Zulu Kingdom, it proved to be no more accurate than my guess of how many wives that King might currently be supporting.
The promised tarred road from Hlabisa to Hlobane fell far short of what the loyal subjects of the Kingdom deserve. Even as dirt roads go it was pretty shocking. There was some evidence of a desire to tar the route sometime during this decade. Graders and lorries cluttered the scenery in places. Most obvious, however, was a government make-work project. Every few miles, four glistening new orange traffic cones, placed according to taste by the accompanying squad of three safety-bibbed women, warned of work in progress. The most astonishing of the tasks in hand was the construction, entirely by hand, of small stone spillways at short intervals across the width of the wide drainage channel that sometimes appeared alongside the track. These seem to be some sort of anti-erosion device. It was gratifying to see one’s tax-dollars going to something more basic than bean fests for the bureaucrats.
So like most free information, the map was worth its price. But we got home in the end and the car’s suspension has been given a good thrashing.
And that’s also what the bears have again been receiving this week; a week that will be remembered for the dreadful murder of one of the market’s more colourful mining personalities. It somehow seems symbolic or perhaps ironic that the gold mining index will be the top performer this month with around a 30% return. At the other end of the scale the sober-suited and staid life assurers will be down about 4% in September.
The third quarter of the year is now history and I am sure I caught sight of tinsel and plastic snow in a shop window. Certainly the party season is hotting up and as the weather overseas cools down one can spot flocks of migrant merchant bankers in dark plumage coming in to land. They are being lured not just by the weather but by the news that R8bn worth of non-core assets belonging to Eskom and Transnet could be going up for sale. Just imagine getting a piece of the V& A Waterfront in Cape Town for your portfolio. That could just rank higher than a house in Clifton.
The various inflation figures were published this week and seemed to surprise only non car-owning economists with their uppish tendency. The press have managed to fill a good few column inches with the conjecture that this means that interest rates will have to rise. If I say that I agree, it will ensure that nothing will happen when the wise men and women of the SARB meet in a fortnight’s time.
The state has announced a competitor for Tidemarks in the form of Vuk’uzenzele, a free magazine that will supply “information on socioeconomic opportunities” and “enhance awareness about government programs”. I am flattered by the imitation and may well have to concede defeat to the 32-page bimonthly in all official languages and Braille. No word yet on their expected circulation though.
James Greener
30th September 2005
