Annual municipal charges for water, rates, sewerage and electricity are thought to have been the main potential sources of upward pressure on the CPI for July
Construction group Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon expects a strong rise in full-year headline earnings, though it will take a knock from the sale of its Mozambican steel unit
IT WAS an uplifting day for our politics and for all who have begun to despair that SA is trapped in a downward spiral of corruption and greed, presided over by a party too powerful to be displaced and too arrogant to correct its failings.
The media events that dominated Wednesday’s news agenda and which were addressed by the DA’s Mmusi Maimane and the EFF’s Julius Malema were thrilling — not just because SA was delivered from the suspense of not knowing which way the coalition cards would fall, but because they were a glimpse of a future in which the ANC does not rule. The two made the same point differently: this is the beginning of the end for the ANC. This is the beginning of a new kind of politics.
It’s perhaps easy to get carried away by the moment. While, in combination, the EFF and DA have undermined the ANC’s dominance, it may not be permanent. The truth about big, dominant parties such as the ANC is that they don’t wither away and die.
With 54% of the national vote, the ANC has a long way to go to lose power. It won the vast majority of municipal councils and will govern in four of the eight big cities, with the outside chance of governing one other. Late on Wednesday the case of Johannesburg was still to be decided, with the DA and EFF engaged in last-minute bargaining over the choice of the DA’s candidate mayor, Herman Mashaba.
And there are signs — judging from the large number of former ANC voters, estimated at 3-million, who stayed at home and did not vote for anyone in this election — that the ANC, if it does the right things, could fight its way back from these losses.
But as the "new politics" begins to take root, the chances of ANC recovery will diminish.
What will these "new politics" entail?
In the cities, there will be greater competition for service delivery than before.
For Maimane, taking control of the three big cities (and possibly Johannesburg too) will give the DA the chance to show the people of Gauteng and the Eastern Cape that it is better than the ANC at governing. In practical terms, this will have to involve demonstrable delivery to the poor; a clean-up of corruption and incompetence; a more efficient provision of services; and measures such as an open and transparent tender system that can reduce corruption and waste.
The EFF also wants to make its presence felt on questions of delivery to the poor. So, council matters that might before have been quite smooth — the passing of the budget or the Integrated Development Plan — will become more contested.
In reference to Johannesburg, for instance, Malema has made it clear the EFF is going to be looking out for the interests of people in Orange Farm and Diepsloot. The EFF will want to know how many houses are to be built and where and why? Why is this particular piece of land, earmarked for that particular purpose, when poor families could benefit if it were to be used for housing? There will be contestation around debt recovery and credit control, around budget allocations and around priorities.
On the macro level, national politics will also be affected. Malema drew the link between the two when he said the ANC had post-election lost a good deal of its ability to dispense patronage. As it is patronage that holds dominant factions in power and is used to fund the party, the ANC will be weakened from the inside as well as from the outside.
Maimane spoke hopefully of the acceleration of the realignment of politics. As the liberation movement continues to fragment and its command of the political middle ground, which has been based on its moral authority and liberation heritage, weakens, SA will give rise to new political movements and alliances. It is conceivable that these could be cross-class, cross-race alliances, with the power to displace the ANC alliance that has dominated for so long.
IT WAS an uplifting day for our politics and for all who have begun to despair that SA is trapped in a downward spiral of corruption and greed, presided over by a party too powerful to be displaced and too arrogant to correct its failings.
The media events that dominated Wednesday’s news agenda and which were addressed by the DA’s Mmusi Maimane and the EFF’s Julius Malema were thrilling — not just because SA was delivered from the suspense of not knowing which way the coalition cards would fall, but because they were a glimpse of a future in which the ANC does not rule. The two made the same point differently: this is the beginning of the end for the ANC. This is the beginning of a new kind of politics.
It’s perhaps easy to get carried away by the moment. While, in combination, the EFF and DA have undermined the ANC’s dominance, it may not be permanent. The truth about big, dominant parties such as the ANC is that they don’t wither away and die.
With 54% of the national vote, the ANC has a long way to go to lose power. It won the vast majority of municipal councils and will govern in four of the eight big cities, with the outside chance of governing one other. Late on Wednesday the case of Johannesburg was still to be decided, with the DA and EFF engaged in last-minute bargaining over the choice of the DA’s candidate mayor, Herman Mashaba.
And there are signs — judging from the large number of former ANC voters, estimated at 3-million, who stayed at home and did not vote for anyone in this election — that the ANC, if it does the right things, could fight its way back from these losses.
But as the "new politics" begins to take root, the chances of ANC recovery will diminish.
What will these "new politics" entail?
In the cities, there will be greater competition for service delivery than before.
For Maimane, taking control of the three big cities (and possibly Johannesburg too) will give the DA the chance to show the people of Gauteng and the Eastern Cape that it is better than the ANC at governing. In practical terms, this will have to involve demonstrable delivery to the poor; a clean-up of corruption and incompetence; a more efficient provision of services; and measures such as an open and transparent tender system that can reduce corruption and waste.
The EFF also wants to make its presence felt on questions of delivery to the poor. So, council matters that might before have been quite smooth — the passing of the budget or the Integrated Development Plan — will become more contested.
In reference to Johannesburg, for instance, Malema has made it clear the EFF is going to be looking out for the interests of people in Orange Farm and Diepsloot. The EFF will want to know how many houses are to be built and where and why? Why is this particular piece of land, earmarked for that particular purpose, when poor families could benefit if it were to be used for housing? There will be contestation around debt recovery and credit control, around budget allocations and around priorities.
On the macro level, national politics will also be affected. Malema drew the link between the two when he said the ANC had post-election lost a good deal of its ability to dispense patronage. As it is patronage that holds dominant factions in power and is used to fund the party, the ANC will be weakened from the inside as well as from the outside.
Maimane spoke hopefully of the acceleration of the realignment of politics. As the liberation movement continues to fragment and its command of the political middle ground, which has been based on its moral authority and liberation heritage, weakens, SA will give rise to new political movements and alliances. It is conceivable that these could be cross-class, cross-race alliances, with the power to displace the ANC alliance that has dominated for so long.
Swimmer Cameron van der Burgh, for opening SA and Africa’s account at the Rio Olympics with a silver medal in the 100m breaststroke. May it be the first of many for the continent — we can all do with the distraction.
JSE CEO Nicky Newton-King. The bourse claims to welcome the prospect of competition, yet has gone to great lengths to make life difficult for ZAR X as it jumps through the many hoops required to obtain a licence to trade.
Spare a thought for President Jacob Zuma, who had to go through the motions of celebrating Women’s Day shortly after being targeted by protesters reminding SA of his controversial acquittal on rape charges. Awkward.
