The ANC is in a strong position, with its main opposition – the Democratic Alliance – weakened through in-fighting and desperately in need of more black supporters. Thatās the message in the Financial Times, a London-based newspaper influential among large global investors.
The FT notes that President Cyril Ramaphosa has fallen short of a pledge to clean up on corruption and revive an ailing economy, āfurther batteredā by Covid-19 containment. Although these disappointments should create an opportunity for the DA, the ANCās rival needs to win over more black voters. But, leadership hopeful Mbali Ntuli, 32, lacks support within a party that has dropped racial redress policies, the paper tells its august readership.
Thereās a lot to fight for in the DA leadership race. Before the DA can mount a serious challenge to the ANC, whose ranks are swelled with the corrupt and the captured, it will have to sort out its internal politics and the perception there is a culture of fear to silence dissent. Thatās the message in a major financial capital as the SA party gears up for its end-of-month conference.
PS: Kafka and StatsSA. My colleague Derek Alberts, aka The Wry Eye, asks: Remember the furore over the -51% drop in GDP and StatsSA conceding the annualised rate painted a worse than-dire picture of a 16.4% quarterly drop in 2Q 2020? āTo balance the scales, StatsSA states that unemployment actually dropped at the height of the coronavirus lockdown, to 23.3% (2Q) from 30.1% (1Q). The explanation is a Kafkaesque gem ā for people to be unemployed, they have to be actively looking for a job but during Stages 5 and 4, people couldnāt look for work, so they were not unemployed. Joblessness solved.ā
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For downloading…
* Episode Three ofĀ Inside InvestingĀ features the investment case for Barrick (one of Warren Buffett’s new favourites) and Berkshire; Purple Group and Famous Brands; plus an update on the Kisby SME fund from Mark Barnes. This podcast is now starting to take shape with a new signature tune and plenty of original content. Here’s the link to the audio and transcript.
