COMMENT
South Africa -
the Land of Great
Uncertainty
Leon Louw
[email protected]
2020 is the year
Ramaphosa will
have to decide if
he steps into the
light of his own
new dawn or
remains snoozing
next to the warm
fires in the land
without light.”
www.equipmentandhire.co.za
T
he year 2020 will be a
watershed for South Africa.
While the economy has not
grown the way President
Ramaphosa was hoping for, every single
step forward seems to be followed by
two steps back.
When business announces that it will
invest more money, the announcement
is followed by six days of load shedding.
As soon as one manufacturer pledges
to invest, another one shuts its doors.
And so, the it continues – uncertainty
about whether we will have enough
electricity to resurrect a failed economy;
uncertainty about who will have a job
tomorrow and who won’t; uncertainty
about whether the National Prosecuting
Authority will start arresting people
implicated in state capture.
There is now even uncertainty about
whether Jacob Zuma has been poisoned
or not, and whether he will spend his last
days in a Cuban hospital or on a red lilo
in the fire pool at Nkandla, watching the
new dawn break while sipping cocktails
with Schabir Shaik and the Gupta
brothers. The one thing that is certain
though, is that Zuma won’t be chilling
in VIP cell number thirtyhundred at
Leeuwkop prison in orange overalls, like
Ramaphosa promised us two years ago.
Seriously, though, South Africa has
become the Land of Great Uncertainty.
If Gwede Mantashe, Minister of Energy
and Mineral Resources, is not certain of
whether he is responsible when things
go wrong at Eskom, how can anybody in
the country be certain about their role in
society? If our president and government
is shocked every time the lights go out,
how can the private sector plan their
strategy and grow their businesses?
It seems that Ramaphosa’s new
dawn was broken in the ANCs Land of
Uncertainty way before the sun had a
chance to rise. At least when Zuma was
in charge, we knew that we would know
something not Zuma or anybody else
knew 24 hours before, and that what we
knew then Zuma didn’t know, and when
he did eventually know, preferred to
forget as soon as he knew. Doesn’t that
make you long for the good old days of
Zuma’s dark winter?
Nevertheless, 2020 is the year
Ramaphosa will have to decide if he
steps into the light of his own new dawn
or remains snoozing next to the warm
fires in the land without light, where the
coal is wet and the knives are drawn,
ready to stab him in the back. Anyhow,
we hope 2020 is a good year, and we
do believe that it will be. The other thing
that is certain, besides the fact that Zuma
won’t pay for his crimes, is that Plant
Equipment & Hire will continue to share
relevant information about your industry,
keeping you up to date with what is really
happening out there, even when the
lights go out.
Leon Louw
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020
1