UNEMBARGOED: Leaner SA needs policy reorientation and real sacrifices
FINANCE Minister Pravin Gordhan and a small army of business and trade union leaders have just returned from an international road show. Operation Avert the Downgrade was the reason, and usually warring battalions lined up behind him to fight for the country. It’s a marvel.Whether the credit ratings agencies are convinced by the show of unity will soon become apparent, but it is clear that the days of leaving everything to the Treasury to sort out are over, because our problems are not about fiscal management, but about politics.There are those who sneer at this entire enterprise, accusing Gordhan et al of travelling all that way to pander to the whims of imperialists who want to suck more blood out of us wretched Africans. Instead, they argue, he should spend more time here, tending to the needs of the poor.Here’s the thing. The road show was much less about us, and more about the people who buy our government bonds. They’ll listen to the credit ratings agencies, even if we choose ...
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