"We are suffering from a credit hangover," claim international newspaper headlines. They make it sound as if something minor and irritating has occurred, which is grinding on a bit too long and preventing them from getting on with their comfortable lives as usual. They speak of it as an annoyance which should be past by now and which could go away at any moment.
"We are suffering from a credit hangover," claim international newspaper headlines. They make it sound as if something minor and irritating has occurred, which is grinding on a bit too long and preventing them from getting on with their comfortable lives as usual. They speak of it as an annoyance which should be past by now and which could go away at any moment.
Let’s think about this. How long has the world’s "party" been going on – since the early 90s (with a little blip around 2000-2002)?
So how long will the "hangover" be?
If a party lasts five hours and you get properly "zedded", the hangover will last the whole morning and you will feel "droth" the whole day.
So I reckon their hangover has just begun, because they had one heck of a serious party. When the real hangover sets in they will know all about it and, unfortunately, so will we – to a far lesser degree.
But I have renewed hope for South Africa after reading the National Planning Commission’s detailed plans for the future of the country.
It seems as if South Africa has finally woken up out of its slumber and come to its senses regarding some vital issues.
A few miraculous things have happened in quick succession, with Julius Malema and Floyd Shivambu being unanimously sunk by their "comrades" and the rest of South Africa, while a third noisy, empty vessel, Sindiso Magaqa, was found guilty of misbehaviour.
Furthermore, SA has been asked to join Brazil, India and China in helping the G20 countries and Europe during their "credit hangover", which is quite a privilege but could turn out to be rather dangerous (never get involved in other people’s debt); while Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe seems to be half way there regarding long-term strategic trade relations and globalisation.
He backed up Walmart’s decision to invest in South Africa.
Walmart is a biggie, and if they can fight so hard to get into South Africa, there must be something here worth fighting for.
When all the [BEE] barriers are down and there is nothing left to keep South Africans apart, we will be well on our way to silencing the Afro-pessimists and achieving all the job creation and poverty alleviation recently deliberated by the National Planning Commission.
Manuel stated, “It is possible to get rid of poverty and reduce inequality in South Africa in 20 years… It requires us to put our hands together”.
That sounds clichéd, but this time I think he was really serious. The Commission slated undue political or union interference in education, while agreeing that we need greater competitiveness and a lower cost structure for business and households.
The greatest "eureka" moment was when Manuel said, “A government that works well doesn’t just deliver more houses, it makes it possible for people to build or buy their own houses.”
That is a shift in thinking from the general mindset of handouts. If the debilitating sense-of-entitlement mindset which has pervaded our land can somehow be identified and challenged from the top down, then all will be well indeed. This, together with uniting all people to work together and look after each other, as opposed to having "every man for himself", are two virtues which will save any country in any condition.
One of Manuel’s claims that the life chances of the youth remain stunted by apartheid put a bit of a dampener on things.
The time is over for blaming apartheid; people must take responsibility now, think about helping others and get on with life. That should be the central aim of the National Planning Commission. Otherwise the Commission seems to be right on track."We are suffering from a credit hangover," claim international newspaper headlines. They make it sound as if something minor and irritating has occurred, which is grinding on a bit too long and preventing them from getting on with their comfortable lives as usual. They speak of it as an annoyance which should be past by now and which could go away at any moment.
Let’s think about this. How long has the world’s "party" been going on – since the early 90s (with a little blip around 2000-2002)?
So how long will the "hangover" be?
If a party lasts five hours and you get properly "zedded", the hangover will last the whole morning and you will feel "droth" the whole day.
So I reckon their hangover has just begun, because they had one heck of a serious party. When the real hangover sets in they will know all about it and, unfortunately, so will we – to a far lesser degree.
But I have renewed hope for South Africa after reading the National Planning Commission’s detailed plans for the future of the country.
It seems as if South Africa has finally woken up out of its slumber and come to its senses regarding some vital issues.
A few miraculous things have happened in quick succession, with Julius Malema and Floyd Shivambu being unanimously sunk by their "comrades" and the rest of South Africa, while a third noisy, empty vessel, Sindiso Magaqa, was found guilty of misbehaviour.
Furthermore, SA has been asked to join Brazil, India and China in helping the G20 countries and Europe during their "credit hangover", which is quite a privilege but could turn out to be rather dangerous (never get involved in other people’s debt); while Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe seems to be half way there regarding long-term strategic trade relations and globalisation.
He backed up Walmart’s decision to invest in South Africa.
Walmart is a biggie, and if they can fight so hard to get into South Africa, there must be something here worth fighting for.
When all the [BEE] barriers are down and there is nothing left to keep South Africans apart, we will be well on our way to silencing the Afro-pessimists and achieving all the job creation and poverty alleviation recently deliberated by the National Planning Commission.
Manuel stated, “It is possible to get rid of poverty and reduce inequality in South Africa in 20 years… It requires us to put our hands together”.
That sounds clichéd, but this time I think he was really serious. The Commission slated undue political or union interference in education, while agreeing that we need greater competitiveness and a lower cost structure for business and households.
The greatest "eureka" moment was when Manuel said, “A government that works well doesn’t just deliver more houses, it makes it possible for people to build or buy their own houses.”
That is a shift in thinking from the general mindset of handouts. If the debilitating sense-of-entitlement mindset which has pervaded our land can somehow be identified and challenged from the top down, then all will be well indeed. This, together with uniting all people to work together and look after each other, as opposed to having "every man for himself", are two virtues which will save any country in any condition.
One of Manuel’s claims that the life chances of the youth remain stunted by apartheid put a bit of a dampener on things.
The time is over for blaming apartheid; people must take responsibility now, think about helping others and get on with life. That should be the central aim of the National Planning Commission. Otherwise the Commission seems to be right on track.
Did Moody’s downgrade SA at precisely the wrong time?
