By Alec Hogg
Optimistic stockbrokers describe the rebound from lengthy decline as a relief rally. The more cynical write it off as a dead cat bounce – what happens to a feline colliding with the pavement after falling from a high building.
Cyril Ramaphosa’s December 18 victory has elevated emotions of South Africans everywhere. Homecoming Revolution CEO Angel Jones reports “a marked increase” in inquiries from Saffers wanting to return to SA. Since November, she adds, job queries from those living abroad has trebled.
In Davos the mood is less exuberant. The IMF downgraded SA’s economic growth projections and when asked, the chief economist saw no reason to change that gloomy outlook. Ditto PwC’s chairman Bob Moritz who told me last night that global CEOs are taking a wait-and-see attitude to all of Africa, SA included.
Yesterday’s breakfast releasing the 2018 Edelmans Trust Barometer provided more pause. South Africa was referenced as the global barrel scraper – as per “under Trump, trust in the US Government has fallen so far it’s now even below South Africa.” Which just goes to show how one man’s relief rally is easily another’s dead cat bounce.
