Boardroom Talk – How world sees SA: Pretoria’s choice to befriend Putin carries consequences

By Alec Hogg.The below note is published from Alec's daily Boardroom Talk email which is sent to BizNews Premium subscribers.Our partners at the Financial Times in London offer a window into how the world is viewing South Africa. It's currently with little affection. Yesterday, the FT's Editorial Board laid out SA's options in the aftermath of the arms-to-Russia debacle. It was communicated in a way even the dimmest Pretoria bureaucrats should grasp..___STEADY_PAYWALL___.In essence, the FT's editorial board says SA's foreign minister Naledi Pandor (69), whose pre-political life was teaching English and whose entire academic career was in education, needs to fast-track her own learning. Especially about how things work in the Big Leagues. For instance, how you don't get to have your cake and eat it..The FT reckons Pandor can choose to tell off the USA and insist that as a sovereign state SA will be friends with whomever it wants. But, it also means she must take responsibility. The FT concludes: "If Pretoria wants to throw in its lot with Putin, that is its choice. But it should realise that such choices have consequences." You can read the article here..What the Londoners don't mention, however, is that it is not Pandor and her cronies who will suffer the consequences of her actions. SA cabinet ministers are consciously shielded against unemployment, escalating crime, even loadshedding. They only apply to those the ANC misgoverns..Roll on 2024..Sterkte..Alec.Read more:.SA in Bloomberg global newsletter's spotlight: "Embracing Putin is a gamble"John Steenhuisen calls out Ramaphosa over Russian arms dealThe mysterious Lady R: More questions re SA's arms-to-Russia claims with Prof Esterhuyse

Boardroom Talk – How world sees SA: Pretoria’s choice to befriend Putin carries consequences

Related Stories

Deepfakes, boiler rooms, and bully tactics – The truth about FXSI: the scam targeting the BizNews tribe

Boardroom Talk: Berkshire after Buffett, the $373bn cash pile, and refusing to chase AI hype

Boardroom Talk: BN Portfolio Mag7 shine brightly in Q1

Boardroom Talk: Tesla’s big AI leap, Sasol’s oil surge and Teledyne’s quiet dominance