Now here's a headline you don't want to see:
Big deficits may become normal for SA
Despite the trade deficit for November moderating down to R10.5 billion from October's massive R12.9 billion deficit, the figure has come as a surprise to analysts who say South Africans may have to get used to a high deficit for some time to come.

The market forecast for the November deficit was just R3.250 billion.

"With the growth in imports of machinery and transport equipment continuing strongly on the back of increased fixed investment and infrastructure development, we may have to get used to seeing a growing trade deficit and stable rand environment for quite some time to come," said independent economic analysts RLJP.

A closer look at the data does reveal that, as was the case in October, a trade deficit of an order of magnitude this large can be largely explained by heavy oil imports in the drive to shore up inventories in the face of some refinery closures.

Therefore while the South African Revenue Service (SARS) reported a R2.6 billion month-on-month (m/m) decline in mineral imports to R11.1 billion in November, this trade category remains strongly in deficit.

"Even if the anomalous oil imports are excluded, however, November's overall trade deficit would have been in the region of 6-8 billion rand, higher than the market consensus, and well above most monthly deficits in 2006," said RLJP.
from Business Report here
Is this oil or are we on a slippery slope?