Now that he has consolidated his position as kleptocrat in chief for
the next half dozen years President Zuma has obviously decided to let his true
nature show through. He appears to have dispensed with the services of those minders
who hitherto have so skilfully managed his “best friends with everyone”
persona. Just days after axing suspected enemies from the inner circles JZ has
now identified animal lovers as unsuitable role models for people of his race
and culture. Given his penchant for draping himself in the skins of rare cats
when dancing and praying, this announcement should really come as no surprise.
What was puzzling, however, was his choice of bribes for the rural community
where he was speaking on Boxing Day. While undoubtedly useful and welcome,
items such as wheelchairs, and lawnmowers are not obviously icons of African
culture. The jackpot prize was a 4 room house and a bed which I am sure the
lucky winner was much happier with than a beehive grass hut and a rush mat on
the floor. In closing proceedings our newly assertive president promised more
of the same every December 18th. Presumably someone had pointed out
that dishing out goodies to the poor on the day after Christmas might be
construed as a tad colonial and Eurocentric. The President travelled to his
next appointment in a German car.
And of course the so called developed lands across the equator are
not with out their own lunacies. In the USA there are websites counting
down the time to the moment (next Monday apparently) when that country plunges
over a fiscal cliff. This deadline – set so long ago when it all seemed an
unlikely scenario – will enforce simultaneous tax cuts and spending boosts with
possibly dreadful consequences. The simple guess, however, is that nothing much
will happen this time either as the world has become quite used to the USA’s large and
growing level of debt simply because their currency, the US dollar, is still
the only game in town. Unavoidably there will be a day when the ridiculousness
of letting one of the world’s greatest debtor nations provide the global
currency standard will dawn. It will happen without any warning and very very
quickly. Massive fortunes will be made and lost and the rest of us will have to
stand on the sidelines and clutch our Krugerrands.
Current amusement in Euro land comes in the form a list of Greek
citizens who, it is alleged, could solve that country’s budgetary crisis at a stroke – if only they were to pay the
tax they are thought to owe. The list, it seems, keeps getting lost! And when
found again it is a few names shorter. Has no one managed to tap these names
into a spread sheet? Is it still a grubby piece of paper bashed out on the
office Olivetti many years ago? Those of
us in the real world are only too aware of the dreadful ubiquity of anything in
electronic form. In a heartbeat there
are copies everywhere and it becomes impossible to lose. Clearly there is no
one in the Athens
bureaucracy who has any appetite for making the call to even the first name on
that list asking that they pop in to the tax office for a chat. More than
plates will get broken.
Have you noticed and been impressed by the sight of the All Share
sniffing the 39 500 level in recent days? Undoubtedly the weekend newspapers
will have hunted down excitable and quotable analysts who will gladly blather on
about reaching 50 000 in 2013. After all, that’s merely 25% away. This very
unexcitable old bear is still worried that the earnings that appear to driving
this bull market are based on consumer spending which has “leaked” from the government’s
capital budget. There really is scant evidence of that long promised and much
needed infrastructural spending taking place. And that index? Well, it has been
achieved on miniscule volumes. Let’s wait and see if the institutional fund
managers come back from the beach in a mood to join the ride or feed the ducks.
Have a really wonderful and safe and prosperous New Year
James Greener
Full Moon December 2012.
