🔒 WORLDVIEW: Fancy trying to find a job in your 70s? Harsh reality of a former political optimist

By Alec Hogg

On a day when every South African will make a conscious personal decision to either protest or carry on with business as usual, my BizNews colleague Jackie Cameron shares something of what is at stake. Jackie grew up in Zimbabwe, a country whose roadmap from breadbasket to dustbowl has been clearly signposted.

That country’s GDP per capita is today far below the level it was at ahead of Rhodesia’s UDI in 1965. Its more ambitious folk have relocated to more hospitable geographies, keeping their kin from starvation through remittances, easily the nation’s largest source of external funds. A rational being would avoid Zimbabwe’s example at all costs. But rational beings are in short supply in the ANC right now. That doesn’t mean you have to share their delusion. 
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Jackie writes: “I have been here before. I spent much of my childhood in Zimbabwe, with a father who took pride in being an Afro-optimist. My father would hear no wrong about Robert Mugabe, even giving up his British passport to secure Zimbabwean residency when the government ruled against dual citizenship. He was delighted that President Mugabe ran the show, particularly in the earlier years when first wife Sally was a positive influence.

But with the advantage of hindsight, I can now see that my father was like the proverbial frog being cooked so slowly it doesn’t notice it will eventually be dinner. Over time, the decisions Mugabe took, from grabbing land to meddling with currencies, destroyed my father’s pension and stock market and other investments – which he kept in Zimbabwean assets, obediently abiding by exchange control laws.

In an ordinary country, the former CEO of a retail company employing thousands would enjoy a comfortable retirement. Instead, my dad arrived in the UK earlier this year having to find income to supplement his dwindling savings. He’s a proud man, so won’t allow his children to help him. Not yet anyway.

Dad is in his 70s and there’s not much demand in Europe for Chartered Secretaries who have come out of retirement from deepest, darkest Africa. But being the personable, smart, customer-always-comes-first man he is, he was able to secure a job as the modern day equivalent of Jeeves. He has been doing night shifts deep within the bosom of a mansion so large it must surely qualify as a palace, where he serves a Lord with severe dementia. His tasks include cleaning up after Sir in the bathroom.

Why am I telling you this? Not so you feel sorry for my father. He is delighted to have a purpose in life and can still earn an honest living. No, I’m telling you this because I have first-hand experience that it can be very costly to be a political optimist when the narrative points to an unfortunate ending. 

Respected asset manager Adrian Saville, of Citadel Investment Services and Cannon Asset Managers, warned this week that South Africa’s credit rating demotion is not “news”, it is “a wake-up call”. The Visiting GIBS Professor cautioned that it takes many years for a country to recover from junk status. And as our family knows, it’s one thing talking about a country going down the tubes. It is quite another experiencing it. 

At the very least, Zuma’s night of the long knives should inspire South Africans to have a geographically diversified investment strategy. Have more personal assets out than in, as insurance against a disappointing future government – even if you still hope for the best.”

I’m hoping the story Jackie shared with us makes you think very seriously about the conclusion she reaches and the advice she is offering. By all means stay at home today. But don’t compound that error by ignoring the reality of a country where greedy lunatics have taken control of the asylum – and after their actions in the past week, now have the keys to the safe.