SA faced the classic “Wall Street vs Main Street” contrast this week as it pulled out the stops to try to attract desperately needed fixed investment into the real economy — but instead found itself the beneficiary of a renewed surge of flows into the financial economy, particularly the bond market.

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s third investment conference ended on Wednesday with an unexpectedly robust R110bn in new investment pledges, adding to the R664bn that had already been pledged at the 2018 and 2019 conferences...