This time last year Des van Rooyen was about halfway through his 92-hour tenure in charge of the country's finances. Imagine, for a moment, that he had stayed ... Had President Jacob Zuma not been held with his feet to the fire on the fateful weekend following 9/12, the appointment might have stuck and our slide to junk would have been accelerated. It didn't happen. Pravin Gordhan was reappointed within four days of the biggest strategic misstep of Zuma's political career. And despite relentless assaults on the National Treasury during 2016, we are finishing the year in better shape than we started. Historians will marvel at how close we came to self-destruction. Nenegeddon provided the crisis South Africa needed to evoke the rallying cry of state, labour and business co-operation. It's far from perfect, as our third-quarter GDP number of 0.2% will attest, but the ratings decisions of recent weeks that have kept South Africa out of junk show that the country, while deep in the releg...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.