TIM COHEN: Colossal force bestrides our local factions

If there is one thing the advocates of RET (that’s "radical economic transformation" to the uninitiated) should be watching like a hawk, it is something I suspect they probably think has absolutely nothing to do with them or us or SA in general. It’s the bid by Kraft Heinz for Unilever. Lots of things divide what we might describe as the Treasury faction and the Zuma faction in the government. But one thing unites them; the desire for a transformative government and developmental state that leads the economy. These are grand aims. But I have this horrible feeling that both factions have absolutely no clue about what they are up against. And what they are up against is neatly summarised in a distant battle between two already giant consumer goods companies.Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas put the case for the thoughtful side of both factions eloquently in this week’s City Press. Jonas argues that the 1994 national consensus has reached its limit. That consensus paved the way for...