SA’s inverse: Argentina mining draws $25bn creates 125,000 jobs.

In Davos last year, I was in a small group which met with Argentina's newly elected president Mauricio Macri. A businessman and former mayor (like New York's Bloomberg and Joburg's Mashaba) Macri was on a sales mission. I wasn't the only one who bought his story.

His small Davos team was inclusive with the leader of the opposition given plenty of airtime. Their mood was optimistic and constructive. Having seen them up close, watching the amazing progress Argentina has made since comes as no surprise.

Macri's latest reform shows what's possible when economically illiterate leadership gets replaced by competence. In the same week South Africa's compromised mining minister tried to push through more insanity, Macri promulgated laws which will provide certainty, slash taxes and harmonise regulations.

Result: Argentina is predicted to jump-start mining investment to $25bn in eight years creating 125,000 jobs. By contrast, SA's legislative muddle threatens to create the near perfect inversion. If you thought education was expensive, try ignorance.