The amplitude of the swings in share
prices has declined substantially and levels on average are about where they
were at the start of the year. Interestingly the latest crop of company results
has contained some quite good news and there has even been deal-making in the ruins
of the mining industry. It’s unlikely however, that the bear has finished his
work and the majority of valuations are near historical highs. The temptation
to buy shares at last year’s prices is strong but perhaps even lower levels are
still coming.
Minister Red Rob Davies thought the
nation deserved to hear his ideas about the nine-point plan to reignite the
economy. All this hot air about moving up the value chain and assurances that
the government thinks that the nation is facing a challenge is tedious and
alarming in its naivety. Forget the ratings and surveys and indicators and all
the stuff that the hand-waving grave-faced talking heads use to warn us that
the end is nigh. That plunging rand is telling us all we need to know; which is
that no one at all is very keen on SA at the moment. Not even tourists are
coming. Even the ideologically blind can’t
fail to read this crystal clear message. What our “leaders” have been doing for
us these past few years is definitely not working. It is urgent that they stop
allocating the nation’s resources to places where the market would not place
them. That’s assuming of course that we have those resources in the first
place. How many teachers of Mandarin are there in the country?
A further illustration of this unrelenting
micro management is the complicated algorithm for determining how much a City
Manager should be paid. The appalling Department of Co-operative Governance and
Traditional Affairs has declared that the top man in one of the nation's bigger
cities could be pulling down R275 000 a month. Ratepayers and their elected councillors
appear to be out of the loop on this one. And the lucky incumbent does not even have to
write his own annual reports. And neither do his staff. A very surprising call
for tenders reveals that the tough job of boasting about one’s accomplishments
is outsourced to a successful bidder. So what actually do all these civil
servants do all day? As the adage goes, they may not look out of the window in
the morning because then there would then be nothing to do in the afternoon.
It’s all very exciting finding yet
another Hominim species in South
Africa.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was obviously pleased to have been
sent on a job that for once didn’t involve meeting angry people, was even moved
to press a welcoming kiss on Homo Naledi’s missing lips.. Since these little
guys were undeniably here before any of us, can we expect a land claim on their
behalf soon?
Regrettably but unsurprisingly, it seems
that we have been lied to once again about the national sports teams. When it
was noted the ‘boks RWC jersey would have the
Springbok on the sleeve and not the breast, the story was that it was a
RWC rule so as not to clash with the sponsor’s logos. But now looking at the
All Blacks strip, that excuse seems to be hogwash. The new cricketing formats
mean that three Proteas squads have to be selected for the tour to India and it
looks suspiciously as if the racists have been whispering in Linda Zondi's
(Convener of Selectors - didn't you know?) ear. And over in the Bafana Bafana soccer
camp it is blindingly obvious that something is seriously awry when we lose 1-3
to a country one tenth our size.
James Greener
14th Anniversary of 9/11
