word from the executive editor
T
he economy is on
everyone’s mind and lips
and at the moment it is
rarely a positive thought or
expression. The world economy has
not yet recovered fully from the 2008
crash a decade earlier. Today with
the protectionist leanings to the right
of many of the bigger economies,
viz. USA, Britain and many countries
in Europe, and the relational stresses
such as immigration into Europe,
Brexit, US-China tit-for-tat trade tariff
squabbles and US-North Korea as
well as US-Iran nuclear tensions,
investors are becoming increasingly
confused and cautious, especially
when dealing with ‘developing’
economies.
It is clear that the well-being
of economies is about political
choices, to a degree about which
choices are made (the USA’s and
China’s policies could not be more
different) but even more importantly
about knowing what that political
choice is going to be or is, and
especially about consistency of
the political speak and the steady
implementation of the ‘promised’
policies.
South Africa’s growth rate is
struggling to reach 1% while our
population growth is almost 2% per
annum. Most South Africans are
feeling the consequent financial
squeeze, which is exacerbated
by our uncertain political situation.
With the elections just a few weeks
away, we are all wondering justo is goingto beourpolitical
der(andat thesametimehoping
t ourpreferredcandidatewill
cceed),willheorshehavea
sufficientmandateto clearlystate
thepoliciesto beimplemented,have
thepowerto implementthemand
mostimportantlyhavethebackbone
toclearlystateupfrontwhatwe
canexpectandthatthepromised
policiesareconsistentlyapplied?
Politicalspeakandflip-floppingwill
justdragusfurtherintothequagmire
andunfortunatelythisis whatweare
experiencingdaily.
If wearefortunate,the8 May
electionresults,theappointmentof
theCabinet(sizeandpeoplechosen
willbethemainindicators)andthe
immediatepolicypronouncements
thereafterwillspelloutto allif this
timeroundwewillhavetheall-
importantclarityofpolicyandaction
thatcouldleadto theblossoming
ofthiscountry’seconomyagain.It
willbetoughasmanyunpopular
decisionswillhaveto betakenand
actioned.Ourleaderwillneedto be
strongwilledandeffectiveatclearly
enunciatinghisorherpoliciesand
withtheimplementationthereof.At
thisstagewecanonlyhope.
Whatdoesthismeanforus
gameranchersinparticular?
Giventhedramaticdownturn
in theaveragepricesofgame
animalsfrombreedingprojects,
tourism(beit consumptiveor
otherwise)andtheproduction,
processingandmarketingof
gamemeataresettobecomethe
majorincomegeneratorsof our
industryin thefuture.Currently,
however,wearehandicapped
bythepoliticalflip-floppingandbureaucraticincompetenceof
thetwodepartments(Department
of EnvironmentalAffairsand
Departmentof Agriculture,Forestry
andFisheries)thataremeantto
supportandpromoteourindustry.
Similarly,thepoliticaldouble-speak
about“expropriationof landwithout
compensation” (EWC)further
dampens(if nottotallywipesout)
anyappetiteforinvestingin South
Africa,letalonein agriculture,land
and/orinfrastructurerelatedto
agriculture.I haveseenreferences
statingthatR450billionforeign
investmenthasbeenwithdrawn
(sharessoldviatheJSE)fromour
economyoverthepastfiveyears.AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Dr Peter OberemLion (Panthera leo).
Photo © Villiers Steyn