WATCH: The Year of the Tiger — what’s in store for the world in 2022?

It’s time to consider the new reality that is emerging in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, and ask what it means for politics, economics and business.

While the IMF is cautioning that the Omicron variant could shave a few percentage points off global growth, the figure is still double that of SA’s expected GDP next year.

Crony capitalism, blackouts and scant investment left SA in a second recession in two years before the pandemic hit. The virus then pushed unemployment above 30%. Anger at decades of graft and the failing economy helped fuel riots in July.

With a large mining industry, South Africans’ hopes for a brighter economy in 2022 rest in part on high prices for what we dig up. But how long will it take to fix the deeper problems?

To discuss this, Michael Avery is joined by Gina Schoeman, Economist & Head of Research at Citi, Dr Lumkile Mondi of the School of Economics and Finance at Wits, and Richard Calland, associate professor in public law at the University of Cape Town and a founding partner of the Paternoster Group.