the phoenix
Let’s Get Back to
Work, and Think Lite!
Year-end breaks have their advantages, and their disadvantages. Visiting your home town gives you the
opportunity to catch up with all your old mates, and all your relatives, but if you have a large family and a lot
of old mates, catching up takes time and suddenly you’re faced with time management issues – not exactly
what your envisaged for your holiday. Similarly, the opportunity to have a couple of drinks with your old mates
may have cathartic effects, but very soon your liver is in need of its own holiday. And all those braais are indeed
wonderful, except for the extra centimetres that appear like magic on your waistline.
T
he biggest advantage of a yearend break is the time you have to
reflect, and think. Therein lies the
rub, because whilst thinking is my forte,
it is also my Achilles heel. When I get into
thinking overdrive I can redefine paralysis
by analysis, so for the purpose of this
article I am going to go Think Lite. This
is also my new year’s resolution – to not
let all the problems of South Africa wear
me down. In 2015 I am just going to put
my head down and work, without any
baggage slowing me down. I can also
recommend this to all my readers.
This Think Lite philosophy may not solve
all the external problems that bedevil our
businesses, but at least it will improve
our focus, and our general feeling of
well-being. Not that I am recommending
a Pollyanna approach. I am fully aware
that this country faces an uphill battle to
get back onto its earlier growth trajectory,
and I am fully aware that the impediments
to growth are self-inflicted, and I am
frustrated that whilst the solutions are
obvious our government appears to
be oblivious to the logical solutions.
However, with a Think Lite approach, I
will not get myself into ulcer inducing
knots in analysing the idiocy of our socalled leaders. I will just get on with life
and try my best in difficult circumstances.
I will leave the Think Classic heavy hitting
to the other commentators, of which
there are many.
Some of you may be asking what the
impediments to growth are, and why we
are in this situation.
Well, just read the commentary of the
Think Classic guys. For example, the
Financial Mail editorial of 22 January
decries the fact that the latest Special
Economic Zones (SEC) Act does not
allow for increased
labour flexibility,
and that it makes
provision for
only one
businessman
on the 15 person
special economic zones
advisory board.
Fuzzy thinking of the highest
socialist order, but I am not going to
let this drive me crazy. Then, what about
Think Classic professor Stan du Plessis,
dean of economic & management science
at Stellenbosch University.
These constraints included logistics issues,
a skilled labour shortage, the regulatory
burden on small businesses, and the
deficiencies in state organisation, capacity
and leadership. Ten years ago! And
what has government done about these
constraints – zip, nothing, zero. No wonder
Eskom is in such a mess. Amazing, and
stress inducing, but I’m not going to freak
out, I am just going to keep on working.
Zuma blames apartheid, but then again
Zuma does not Think Classic, nor does
he Think Lite. In actual fact, Zuma is like
Eskom; there is an energy saving light bulb
on, but it is fed by a small generator,
which does not have enough power to
get the lift to the top.
The buck stops at one place,
and that is on the doorstep of
Nkandla. He and his cronies have
created policy uncertainty on an
unprecedented scale, which has led to the
embarrassing situation of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasting a dismal
average growth rate of a mere 2,75% up
to 2019 for our country, and a country
with so much potential. The IMF also
warns that South Africa has no choice
but to accelerate structural reforms,
particularly addressing labour market
constraints and energy issues. However,
with Zuma at the helm, this will not happen.
Du Plessis was a member of a group of
economists, chaired by Harvard professor
Ricardo Haussman, that identified six
constraints to South Africa’s growth 10
years ago, and this was endorsed by
government!
I cannot do anything about this
disturbing situation, so I will
immerse myself in work and
Whilst this issue of aBr is jam packed with information, our monthly contribution cannot do justice to the wealth of information
available on a daily basis, so don’t forget to get your daily fix on our website. Make sure that you make regular visits to
| words in action
2
FEBRUARY 2015
Think Lite.
www.abrbuzz.co.za