New Finance Minister...Rand gets battered

and the flippin SAA dud will get her way for the airbus and the middle man to do it.


can anyone besides a handful of us not see what is happening to our country.to me imo the masses are to blinded to see what is wrong from right...the famous words will be said ' i have been previously disadvantaged"!!!

i will work as hard as i can to give my 6 yr girl a good education to leave this place when she accomplishes her studies. will not let her face the crap we all face on a daily basis.

JZ is the faark up here.

Spoke to a friend who is a SAA pilot...he said that the reason the pilot's union issued a notice of no confidence in the SAA chairperson was that she was pushing the BEE agenda too far...to the extent that she wanted junior Black African pilots to take seniority over more experienced pilots...that raised safety concerns for them and hence their actions...

She is largely untouchable...she was/is ?? head of the Jacob Zuma Foundation and there are suspicions that she has a son with JZ, now 28 years old, who benefited enormously from a rail tender...

The financial future of this country is in dire straits...low growth, increasing imported inflation due to weakening Rand which will lead to increased interest rates, lesser disposable income and further deterioration in growth and lesser tax receipts and increased public borrowing to bridge greater budget deficits...all is OK whilst a country can borrow to fund the deficit but when you get rated junk, interest on debt goes up rapidly and any further borrowing comes with a raft of conditions like austerity, higher taxes, etc, etc...

But we need to reach the fiscal cliff as soon as possible and do our bit to accelerate the process as only then will people of quality and ability come to the fore to fix the problem...in the words of Mmusi Maimane, we need a reset and that can only happen when things collapse totally...

The time has come for voters to see the man in charge for what he is. A person who will always put self interest ahead of country interest and too powerful to be opposed by those around him in government.

SA needs a new leader that can unite the nation in the search for economic freedom, not just political liberation. Our children needs quality governance if they are to have jobs and a secure future.

All parties have a similar system of internal governance whereby leaders are chosen by branch delegates that have voting rights at party elective conferences...
No public representative is DIRECTLY elected by voters hence their is no accountability to voters but only to the party they represent.

I voted for the DA for years but there is no way they will win a national election and I did change my vote in the last national elections and voted differently in national and local elections...they may have good policies and well-meaning leaders but they will never enjoy populate support as there is a HUGE trust deficit between the majority of the people of this great land and (true) leadership of the DA...

So, as much as many of us want the same things for all the children of this country and future generations to come, we have a dearth of leaders that can carry out the vision we want to see implemented...really is sad that there are NO people of credibility, ability and integrity to make what is possible into a reality...

TN, I enjoy reading your comments and views and you are spot on in terms of what you are saying.

There is off course a reason why most mature democracies end up having at least two strong parties capable of uniting enough voters behind them each election. It is because the voters don't allow themselves to be conned and realise the importance of a strong opposition to keep politicians honest, focussed and accountable.

As long as a country effectively has a one party state, even if democratically elected, it will seldom be run optimally as accountability inevitably suffers, especially when the leader borders on a dictator propped up by self serving cronies.

I couldn't care which party heads up the country (I am pro SA) as long as they are seen to do a good job economically and serve the interests of all citizens.

Our democracy is still in it's infancy so won't change any time soon but we need to identify tomorrows leaders now so that they can be groomed into capable and strong future leaders that will ensure that our country can operate at it's full potential.

@LSU...many thanks...I try to read as much as possible but, much like @roland song, I also have a young daughter who I think first and foremost about and educating her, to the exclusion of everything else, has become paramount as it is the only method through which doors open and options arise...

I guess most, if not all, South Africans of all hues want essentially the same thing...a roof over our heads, food to eat, quality education for our children and access based on their ability not means, the dignity of a job that enables one to provide the needs (with a little space for the wants) of one's family, access to healthcare should the need arise and safety, especially, in one's own home...that's the basics...anything else is welcome but not essential...it is when the basics are compromised that something is amiss...and, as we currently see, we are short of much of the basics...

Something has got to give and my humble view is that we need total collapse, especially from a financial perspective...that is the only way the best people to build and fix things will come or be brought to the fore...otherwise we stumble along fixing potholes...we need that sinkhole to appear and quickly !!! So that we fix this country, one layer at a time, but from the bottom up so that we don't have the same problem in 20 years from now...

This is another tactic by Zuma to defraud the SA public. The ANC will not do anything about it because they are all corrupt. I think it's time the people of SA stand up and boycott Zuma and ANC because if we don't do anything we're going to be headed towards another Zimbabwe. So when are South Africans gona stand up and say enough is enough!!!

i am not sure if people understand the severity of what happened last night . The president has now once a for all proven that he has absolutely no idea and that he will do what he likes to create wealth for himself and his allies .
I have tried to always see the positive in this country and tried to see the damage apartheid had done to the majority of our citizens but what is now going on is absolutely shocking and would never be accepted in any true democracy . We are now a one man state and if nothing is done very soon we will find ourselves at the bottom of a hole that will be almost impossible to get out of .
I cannot be treated like a mushroom any longer and have this morning decided to leave , even if I have to sweep the streets in another country
I employ 75 South Africans who will in the next year be without jobs . I promise you many people feel the same way.
years ago I read a bumper sticker "will the last person to leave please put the lights off" , well there wont be any lights to put off .
It is a damn shame as this country had so much potential to show the world how to repair a broken nation

I am saddened to read what I have written

@aluminium...really is a tough decision you have arrived at...every success to you and your family wherever you may go...

Sad reality is that the majority of the country do not know or care about events of this nature as they are more focused on more important matters that they are confronted with daily...to get a plate of food to survive through the day only to be confronted by the same tomorrow...our "leaders" / rulers take food out of the mouths of those most in need of it and don't blink about doing it in perpetuity...

yes TN , you are correct . Unfortunately the promise to the people of a better life is fast going to become a worse life (economically speaking)
i have a listed company that owes my company 750k but cannot pay because a government project owes them 40 million and in 120 days.
privatize SAA , ESKOM etc and the billions that are being lost would flow back into infrastructure spend and start the revival of our economy . I am no economist but surely someone can see this .
The people need to stand up and say enough is enough but that is only going to happen when jobs are lost in biblical proportions .
I never thought I would say this but where is Julius "the voice of the people"

Dave Scott wrote: Any background or reasoning or just a knee jerk reaction?

......our currency always tends to soften when we shut down for December holidays.....but with Zuma "replacing" the finance minister 2 months before the budget speech with rumours abound on the tapped out tax base and increase in VAT.....he has set the currency into a nose dive.....does he not have any people with brains to keep him in check....I thought that he was merely a puppet with the real powers pulling his strings.....looks like that when they took off on their holidays he has been left to try and settle a personal problem politically and has well and truly f@cked us all.... :ohmy: