It's hard to believe that, just 10 days ago, South Africa's economic outlook was on the up. The current account deficit was shrinking, there were tentative signs of growth and international lenders were giving the country the benefit of the doubt in terms of its ability to pull itself from the brink of economic self-destruction instigated by the messy sacking of Nhlanhla Nene in December 2015. Then President Jacob Zuma undertook a dramatic cabinet reshuffle in a brazen attempt to reassert his flagging authority. Few leaders in the past 60 years of South African history have left their jobs voluntarily. Many have held on well past their sell-by date, and each one of them has left a negative legacy. Those who have gone voluntarily have left a far better legacy for their successors to build on than those who did not. HF Verwoerd became prime minister in 1958. His predecessor, JG Strijdom, had died of cancer in office, and his own tenure ended only when he was assassinated in September ...
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