PETER BRUCE: Ramaphosa must act or we slide into a debt disaster
'By 2021 just the interest we will pay on that debt will average more than R850-million per working day'
EXTRACT
One short-term measure that might be assembled before the public is that the Reserve Bank could raise domestic interest rates to encourage some buying of the rand and, thus, its strengthening. But in the face of a VAT increase, debt ratings downgrades and Eskom seeking steep rises in electricity tariffs, a rise in interest rates would hurt the very people Mabe is supposed to speak for.
That leaves only one other route - sensible domestic policies that, even in the face of external events, can serve as a floor from which to build viable defences of our own.
Pule Mabe, the spokesman for the ANC, has had a difficult week. First he joined calls for the SABC to give more airtime to ANC officials because it's the biggest party. That quickly sank. He then went on the radio and found, when asked what the ANC's position was on the issue of expropriation of land without compensation, that he didn't know it. I don't troll Mabe, but I caught one interview where he was asked about the effects of Wednesday's petrol price increase on the general public. I wish I could find a soundbite of his answer — it was so incoherent it was genuinely funny. Basically, he blamed Donald Trump. Oh dear. The EWN website later quoted him saying that "what we should be doing is to allow our cadres time to be able to consolidate whatever they could be able to work on so that measures that are required to deal with the situation as it presents itself are also assembled before the public".Having learnt to speak a few languages myself, I never make fun of people who strug...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.