Our economy?

[Regan]

With the constant increase in fuel and now the Eskom fiasco. Our daily/ monthly consumer inflation is going to affect us in a big way. Foreign investment will soon become a trickle if any. The cost of having an investment in our SA does not look so rewarding anymore. The poor are becoming poorer, the middle class is on the edge of poor and the rich are not really affected. Crime will increase as people will steal to survive. The scenario looks like the beginings of another Zimbawe downward trend. Very scary, I hope that our govrnment will see the light.

[Moneymaker]

The number of people contacting me about leaving SA has increased 20 fold.....in the past three months!

So the govt. had better get their act together and quickly or a massive amount of skills will leave SA in the next year or two...but then maybe that's what the govt. want....

[SilverNodashi]

not to sound too negative, but it could have a positive impact on the country if all the "powerful" people emigrated, like a lot of engineers who now live in other countries. And I mean this on a "shock" basis, where the country could be shocked to get it's act together if it sees all it's educated people leaving the country for better opportunities

[Moneymaker]

not to sound too negative, but it could have a positive impact on the country if all the "powerful" people emigrated, like a lot of engineers who now live in other countries. And I mean this on a "shock" basis, where the country could be shocked to get it's act together if it sees all it's educated people leaving the country for better opportunities

I personally can't see any positives fot the country in skills leaving South Africa and I doubt our govt. gives a damn since they've done little to re-introduce the much needed skills in the public sector so I'm guessing why would they bother with the private sector skills losses....Besides this skill drain has been going on for years but since so many just leave instead of emigrating the govt. sits back thinking everything is as it was.....while all about them fails!

[SilverNodashi]

ok, so how will the government, and other key people in our country realize that they're screwing up? Do we need to wait for a 2nd Zimbabwe before things change?

[Dave A]

Consider for a moment what it will take to get Zimbabwe back on a sound financial footing. There is very little upside to sliding backwards.

I'm currently seeing evidence of an exodus of people greater than ever before. Not folks who tend to run at the first sign of trouble, but stubborn folks who are used to persisting through setbacks. This is not "surplus skills stock" - these are folk who were actively contributing to the wellbeing of our economy.

I know we've had runs of emmigration in the past, but I don't think the flawed paradigms of our leaders have ever been clearer. This isn't driven by some speculative unease. There is hard evidence on the table that we've got some fundamental problems that don't auger well for the immediate future.

The counter is that with so many skilled contributors leaving, those with skills that remain will be even more valuable. Unfortunately, skill and an ability to contribute positively to the economy is not the first priority of the current government - or the one we seem set to have for the next 4 years.

To be honest I'm not sure what it will take for our government leaders to recognise that they need to change their paradigm. Looking North, it seems the worse their policies perform, the more dogmatic the leaders become.

The tide could quickly be reversed with another De Klerk or Mandela - people who can cast a new vision against the popularist flow and make it stick - but there is no evidence of one on the immediate horison.

Our current crop is far to married to convenience.

[Moneymaker]

ok, so how will the government, and other key people in our country realize that they're screwing up? Do we need to wait for a 2nd Zimbabwe before things change?

They need to lose the blinkers over their eyes and drop the arrogance for a start....

I agree with everything Dave posted...

[Dave A]

Some stats on where we're at on the emigration front in this story.

Twenty percent of South Africans are planning to emigrate or are seriously considering it, according to the results of a survey released on Wednesday by global market-research company Synovate.

Spokesperson Jake Orpen said 600 respondents were interviewed in all nine provinces of South Africa, using face-to-face interviews.

The results were weighted to ensure representation across province, age, gender and race.

"South Africans are not in the best frame of mind lately, due to the obvious political uncertainty, economic instability and electricity problems," Orpen said.

The option to emigrate was most popular amongst young and middle-aged South Africans (18 to 44 years).

This was of concern because this age group represented South Africa's current and future skills set.
full story from M&G here

The story goes on to break down the stats in a number of areas - none too encouraging by my reckoning. Pick your shocker or surprise, but 20% of the population of the entire country...

[murdock]

well the writting is on the bottom of the tv screen again....brown...red we are heading for an electricity melt down again...so many of my customers are applying for visas...some have already left some are waiting for their housing to be sold which seem to becoming a bigger and bigger problem...as the prices are dropping...i am starting to think it might be in my childrens best interest to move to another country for their education and safety...i cannot be around them all the time to protect them and what i am hear on a daily basis now is how many people are being affected by crime...just in the road i live in 3 of my neighbours and 5 in total that i have heard of have been hijacked the neighbour directly opposite me has attempted break in 3 times already...there have been numerous attempted hijacking in my road cable ties on the gate...logs put on the road to obstruct the road you get out to move the log and the car is taken...the writting is on the wall either we need to stop the crime or move...the economy doesnt bother me i have small overheads min debt and the petrol price i will be charging all my customers for travelling soon
the electricity...is not a concern to me i have a generator...an invertor with enough battery power to last 12 hours...gas and battery backup lights to last six hours...and laptops and cell phones for internet access

my only concern is the "CRIME" which is not going to get any better until the economy is sorted out and lots of jobs are created...the problem is the goverment is covered they have the best security and body gaurds money can buy...they dont worry about hijacking because they are normally speeding down the freeways with blue lights not stopping at robots in case they get hijacked...their petrol is paid for by you the tax payer...all their freinds and family are employed or have contract with the goverment...and if the money runs out they get forein investment.

[Moneymaker]

I got abused (mostly in PM's) for predicting these issues on a rival forum....so maybe I'll just keep my mouth shut, except to say that these are very sad days indeed for South Africa. Front page news in most international newspapers is the story of the Tyre-necklassing of a fellow human being. Is this the SA we want to portray to overseas investors....? This is back to pre 1994 days.....Sad indeed and the government is quoted (in the above article) as looking to make it easier for 'foreigners' to immigrate - Pity the people don't seem to be in sync with the govt. or visa-versa.