MD’S MESSAGE
Let us be the country
Madiba envisaged us to be
W
.e publish the latest issue of Banker SA soon
after the fiffth general elections in South Africa
since the advent of a constitutional democracy.
We congratulate all of the new ministers, their
deputies, President Zuma and Deputy-President
Ramaphosa on their appointments. We specififcally welcome Minister
Nene as the new Minister of Finance. We look forward to working with
him, having established an excellent relationship with him during his
tenure as deputy-minister.
This edition of Banker SA will be read in the midst of a downturn
in the SA economy during the quarter ended 31 March 2014. Analysts
are divided on the subject of whether the country is on the verge of
a recession. However, there is no doubt the economy is experiencing
serious problems, and the possibility of increasing our growth rate in
the short-term is not looking good.
I referred to a report by Goldman Sachs in the last edition of Banker
SA. The report detailed the achievements of the democratic government
since 1994 and we recognise these. However, with the swearing in
of the fiffth