PROPAGANDA MAN

Minister Pravin Gordhan was in London recently to convince foreign investors that South Africa economy "may well have bottomed out".  It was a prediction and nothing more - no economic indicators to support his prediction that the economy would grow by more than 1% next year.  

Minister Gordhan had the unenviable task in proffering that South Africa was ripe for investment opportunities.  To the sophisticated investor Gordhan's "bottoming out" prediction, without giving reasons, was a non sequitur.

If Minister Gordhan believes the South African economy is about to undergo a turnaround, he is not only mistaken, but also naive.  Too many political and economic factors militate against his optimism  - an economy that is structurally impaired, plagued by incoherent policies, dysfunctional state-owned enterprises, crippling unemployment, corruption, and incompetence.  All will combine and result in a ratings downgrade to junk status.

With this in mind foreign investors would be sitting on the fence notwithstanding Gordhan's cheerleading.  Surely his time will be better spent by staying at home, and reining in the excesses of his comrades.