If not yet a fully grown bear there is a pretty boisterous cub
gambolling around our market these days. He (or perhaps it might be a she) has
already clawed nearly 1000 points off the All Share since its peak earlier this
month. From the look of the rand, much of the selling could be foreigners
resuming their scramble for the exit as this place appears increasingly to be clueless
about the requirements of a competitive economy in an unsentimental world.
There are nearly as many rumours and stories about what is actually
happening in the labour unrest as there are folk singing and dancing their
protests and claims. While there are undoubtedly some callous and cruel
employers in every industry, the blame for this unrest must lie largely with
the government. Their policies, spokesmen and ministers are raising hopes and
expectations far beyond what almost all the actual industries and businesses
can feasibly deliver. Their often illegal and unconstitutional statements and
promises about what their constituents can demand are conveniently diverting
attention from the same government’s failure to fulfil their own promises of
delivery of services and infrastructure.
There must have been a worried call from head office to a bank in Zululand this week after President JZ claimed that his
rather splendid home of many features was financed with a mortgage bond. This,
he said, happened after a family decision to rebuild the place after it had
twice been burned down. The suits in
Joburg will be asking the mortgage department at the branch some tricky
questions. Like: Have you seen and are you holding title deeds? Did you take
into account the fact that the mortgagor is in a temporary post which he might
possibly even lose in Bloemfontein
next month. Further do you know how many wives and children he has to support
on his income before servicing the loan? And does he have adequate fire
insurance? The main revelation here is that the pres. has somehow obtained
title for his piece of Africa despite the fact large tracts of government owned
land in these so-called tribal areas are mostly unregistered.. Many citizens occupy
their homes at the whim of a “traditional leader” or chief and it has long been
a concern that without title those residents can not use the land they have
lived on for generations to raise capital. JZ’s mortgage might just be a
glimmer of some really good news for the many dispossessed.
The Metro police closed off large numbers of roads and ramps last
Sunday to allow a bike race to take place. This is not uncommon as the kingdom
is full of folk who frequently feel the need to travel large distances on foot,
bike and even canoe. Motorists are somewhat used to being redirected to allow
these poor souls to complete their mission. However, this time the cops somehow
forgot that they had done this before and even while witnessing the gigantic
traffic chaos develop they declined to offer and indicate alternative routes.
When challenged about this, their boss denied the shambles and invited
motorists to write to him with suggestions about what they should do next time!
My guess is that most motorists will want to cancel the races.
The Telkom story is a deep and sorry mess and is surely now a case
study for the impact of government interference. With a market capitalisation
of just R8bn (when listed in 2009 it was R30bn) it is about to fall out of the
top 100 shares on the JSE. Undaunted by the en masse resignation of directors
and executives, the state as major shareholder claims that there are plenty of
candidates with the skills and
experience to fill the vacancies. Can that be true? After all it took Telkom
more than a week to find someone to come and investigate why my phone line was
crackling. And that was after I endured a hectoring lecture on what it would
cost me if, woe betide, the techie found that the noise was my fault! At
Telkom, the customer is a darned nuisance.
As expected by the end of the late kick off test in Dublin last week everyone was all over the
bar, shouting. It was dreadfully close so let’s hope for a smoother win from
the ‘bokke over Scotland
tomorrow.
James Greener
16th November 2012
