I hope you are enjoying the spectacle of the delightful squabble that has flared about how much less one can buy this year with R1 compared to last year. Obviously the answer is different for every single person. It depends not only on ones mix of products and services but also on whether or not in the last year you have upgraded to single malts from the blended whiskys or have filled in the pool to grow vegetables. Stats SA’s unenviable task is to try to answer those questions and to compile an average answer. Why anyone should need to do this anyway is also unanswered, except for the fact that, fatally, many prices and wages are now formally linked to this obviously very flaky number.
My joy at witnessing the ebb and flow of nonsense about this inflation topic has been greatly offset by the frustration and anger of trying to get Telkom to install a working broadband connection to my current office. A succession of amazingly patient and polite call-centre jockeys have in turn assured me that my complaint has been “escalated” to a level of urgency and attention at which I now expect at the very least that Minister Ivy herself will pitch up here in a ladder-topped white van and black tool box. Although I would right now settle for a man with a screwdriver on a bicycle. This week’s revelation that the Telkom CEO is paid R8000 per hour was the end of the road for any idea that I ever had that there must be some value to be unlocked in this massive monopoly. I will never buy the share again.
The All Share index seems keener to explore the space below 27 000 than to climb above 28 000 again. The picture has become very murky, however, with wildly different performances of the different market sectors unfolding in the past few days. Resources are the currently at the back of the peleton, with the banks fighting for the yellow jersey.
Meanwhile, Jacob Zuma, even if clad in “orange prison gear” will still be fit and able to rule the country. This is the claim of his supporters who are also taking the precaution of planning to shut down Pietermaritzburg during the scheduled trial of their hero in that city. Quite why these actions are in the spirit of the constitution while the court case is not, has not been explained.
There is, however, a reasonable chance that Eskom alone will close down the whole country and not merely one city. Some vital bits of kit like a nuclear power station have gone on the blink and once again electricity supply is within kissing distance of demand. Wouldn’t we all love to be a fly on the wall when the ex gold mining chief gets to the end of his first day in the corner office at Megawatt Park?
Much ink and brainpower is being consumed in worrying about how low the growth rate is going to be. In common with the CPI it is also a very dodgy number imbued with significance way beyond its accuracy. However, I have not yet seen anyone else note that a mathematical consequence of lower inflation numbers is higher growth rates. Now there’s some good news.
The Lions meet The Sharks this weekend. I shall watch with great interest and depending on the company around me, might utter a word or two of support for the team.
James Greener
25th July 2008
