THE DATA FOG IS CLEARING

Our much reviled and despised currency, the South African rand is daily setting one-year highs against major currencies. This is embarrassing for those who prefer the bear narrative about the nation going to hell in a handbasket. Even the share market tarnishes the thesis that the ill-conceived and largely medically ineffective lockdowns utterly destroyed our economies. The All-Share Index is lurking in the mid 6o thousands and has challenged 70 thousand on a few recent occasions. Like the parson’s egg there are clearly parts of the economy which are quite excellent thank you. As anyone whose daily life necessitates a trip to the supermarket can tell you however, grocery prices are going up and even the carefully massaged inflation metrics are confirming this. But the CPI has not yet done enough climbing to cause the usual knee-jerk reaction from the Reserve Bank. They again left the repo rate unchanged this week. There clearly is a WhatsApp group for Central Bankers who peck away at their smart phones under the bedclothes until late at night discussing the price of money. No one wants to be the baddy and start to reward the savers who have been patiently waiting for a bit more interest in their monthly pay out. It would be such fun to see this thread when it moves to the subject of cryptocurrencies. The citizenry is quickly realizing that the pandemic is not as infectious or lethal as our leaders have been assuring us. Increasingly the health industry globally is singing from the same song book and the rest of us can begin to sort the likely truth from the wishful thinking and suspiciously deliberate misinformation. We are these days less easy to terrify and bully. And so now it looks and feels as if our leaders are becoming more interested in rummaging through the nation’s rubbish bins seeking dirt with which to smear each other. Some are even perhaps returning to their real jobs. For example, the Independent Electoral Commission have decided that it will investigate whether conditions will be conducive to free and fair local government elections in October 2021, particularly in the context of Covid-19. That should keep them busy. Spoiler alert: Yes of course. Meanwhile bleeding fingernails must be the order of the day at the SARS head office. Despite starting off telling the civil servants that there simply was no money for honouring long standing pay increase commitments, suddenly there, down the back of the couch in the Commissioner’s office a few rusty coins and tatty notes were found and have been offered to this rather grumpy cohort of public employees. It remains to be seen if the trove is enough. In another part of Tax Towers, squeals of delight can be heard from the tax-collecting gumshoes who have discovered the unlooted medical aid reserve funds. Just the latest in the various private savings accounts that the desperate government is about to prise open with some adroit reinterpretation of the rule books. At first sight on TV the Kiawah Island golf course in South Carolina where the US PGA Championship is being held this weekend, looks startlingly similar to courses here on the south coast. Mamba infested groves of coastal bush with clumps of palm trees and rough which would be better described as jungle or lush grasslands. Then the drone rises to reveal the course to be an amazing enclave squeezed between the Atlantic Ocean and some evil looking swamps which the US commentators are proud to tell us are unique. So far, the first day has been very entertaining. Which is what one hopes we will get from the iconic Monaco F1 Grand Prix. I will refrain from my annual complaint that my invitation to join a party on the poop deck of a grand yacht moored in the harbour has gone astray. But I do look forward to seeing what the spectator policy is going to look like. The restricted number of fans who at last are being allowed to attend Premier League matches in England have been behaving exactly as they warned they would and are booing the ridiculous and inappropriate officially mandated display of support for a racist lobby group, unconnected with any sport. It will not end well. James Greener Friday 21st May 2021