Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa Real Estate Investor Magazine - July 2017 | Page 60

WEALTH
South African
Sense of Security
Who Are the Roleplayers?
BY ANDREW RISSIK
J
uly 2017 is upon us and so is radical economic
transformation! Months after the cynical cabinet
reshuffle, with Malusi Gigaba coming in as
Finance Minister, and ratings downgrades from all
three ratings agencies, with S&P and Fitch rating
South Africa as sub-investment grade, the Rand
seems to be holding up remarkably well. So, what’s
going on?
South Africans are scared, the future is uncertain
politically, the economy is all but officially in recession
and there is no clear plan or strategy to call the nation
together and plan our way out of the mess we find
ourselves in. The constant self-inflicted economic
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JULY 2017 SA Real Estate Investor
pain that comes as a result of extremely questionable
political and economic decisions comes at a great cost
to every South African. The worry is that there are
more of these poor decisions to come and it’s easy
to liken President Zuma to a wounded buffalo that
is severely threatened, but is still capable of more
damage on his way out (whether that’s in five months
or two years from now).
In June, we saw Busisiwe Mkhwebane, the Public
Protector, sticking her nose into the affairs of the
SARB and speaking of changes to its constitutional
mandate. The news sent the Rand down over 1% in a
matter of hours, and while the SARB will no doubt
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