South Africa is currently experiencing a ‘’special period’’ as there is confluence of tragic and unfortunate realities. The economy will possibly enter a recession as economists have predicted that it would grow no more than 0% in 2016.
The South African Reserve Bank’s Annual Report 2015/16 noted that ‘’South Africa’s economy expanded 1.3% in 2015, the slowest rate of increase since the Great Recession’’. The pedestrian growth is too low to grow the economy and create the jobs needed to restore human dignity.
The drought severely affected agricultural production and increased the cost of food.  Mining has been experiencing a jobs bloodbath and commodities are in a bull market. The general reality is that when mining sneezes the economy catches a cold, due to the deep forward and backward linkages that mining has in the economy. China’s economic slowdown and cooling off of appetite for our commodities, have impacted negatively on the South African economy.
The biggest challenge in South Africa is the stubborn unemployment that creates poverty and lack. Today there are companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange that have record levels of cash sitting idle in bank accounts instead of being invested in the South African economy. With more than R403 billion in bank accounts, it’s clear that the social gap between government and big business is increasing instead of decreasing.
This is a national tragedy which reflects that big business and government are not finding common ground. This has already impacted on the ANC government’s poor election results during the local government elections, as South Africans demanded jobs.
Business confidence is at an all-time low. The Business Confidence Index (BCI) fell to 79,3  in June from 82,5. Until Brexit, the South African Reserve Bank had been battling inflation and raising interest rates.
The immediate aftermath of Brexit was an accrual of the South African Rand against major currencies. The rand has strengthened 4.9% against the dollar since Brexit. This currency accrual has been a blessing as the price of petrol has decreased and the Reserve Bank has not raised interest rates, benefiting households and business.
South Africa has dodged rating agency downgrades to junk status which would spell economic disaster as it would increase the cost of borrowing. The South African Rand depreciated sharply on the news that President Jacob Zuma had recalled Nhlanhla Nene as Minister of Finance, which shocked the markets and the Rand went into nose dive.
This resulted in the re-appointment of Pravin Gordhan as Minister of Finance, a measure that stabilised the markets and appeased big business and investors. Around February this year, it emerged that the Hawks were investigating the conduct of Pravin Gordhan when he was commissioner of the South African Revenue Service. The Hawks have again asked that the Minister of Finance present himself to answer some questions, which he refused to do.
These events have negatively impacted on the South African Rand, leading to its depreciation. The unintended consequence of currency depreciation is that it benefits tourism, making South Africa a more attractive destination for foreign tourists. Currency depreciation dampens outbound tourism, whilst promoting inbound tourism to South Africa.
The Guardian newspaper has reported that South Africa is the second cheapest destination for UK tourists. A further depreciation of the rand will continue to benefit tourism. Tourism will continue to drive the South African economy, as tourism is the new gold.
The National Tourism Sector Strategy (NTSS) creates a vision that South Africa must be in the top 20 tourism destinations by 2020, which is just around the corner. Tourism can only grow and reach an unstoppable growth trajectory if we remove the red tape that dampens the growth of tourism, such as low aviation connectivity, low levels of service excellence, poor safety and security and the requirement for visas, which is an inconvenience for tourists.
The Tourism Red Tape Initiative (TRTI) remains a worthy cause that would change the economic realities of South Africa. September is Tourism Month and this would be a time to reflect if whether as a country we have done all that we could to ensure that we drive economic growth. The huge mining hangover can only be nursed by using tourism consumption to create labour intensive jobs immediately.
Tourism’s ability to diversify the economy is more imperative considering that the Fourth Industrial Revolution is upon us, which means that machines would replace humans, increasing unemployment. Tourism must become a senior ministry such as Home Affairs, Intelligence and Defence. Let the conversation and discourse begin as we celebrate Tourism Month in September.
 
Unathi Sonwabile Henama teaches tourism at the Tshwane University of Technology and writes in his personal capacity. ﻿

OPINION: Impact of S.A politics and currency depreciation on tourism.

South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has complied fully with a police investigation into him, his lawyers said on Thursday, in the latest round of a public row that has hit local markets.
Gordhan said last week he had done nothing wrong and had no legal obligation to obey a police summons linked to the probe into whether he used the unit at the tax service to spy on politicians including President Jacob Zuma.
Zuma has said he backs Gordhan but cannot stop the investigation. The ruling party also said it had confidence in Gordhan but urged him to cooperate with police investigations.
Gordhan&#8217;s lawyers, Gildenhuys Malatji Inc., said the finance minister has offered to help police with their inquiries.
&#8220;The Minister responded fully to all the Hawks&#8217; enquiries, offered to provide any further assistance they might require and scrupulously acted in accordance with the law,&#8221; Gordhan&#8217;s legal firm said in a statement.
&#8220;The Hawks have not responded to his offer of further assistance.&#8221;
By 0932 GMT the rand was 0.43 percent firmer at 14.6700 against the dollar, but was still down more than 8 percent since Aug. 23 in response to news that the elite police unit Hawks had summoned Gordhan.
 
(Reporting by TJ Strydom; Editing by James Macharia)﻿

South Africa's Gordhan complied fully with police: lawyers

South Africa&#8217;s recovery from its worst drought in over century could be stalled as anticipated rain relief from a La Nina weather system remains uncertain, the South African Weather Service said on Monday.
An earlier prediction of a moderate La Nina, which is associated with higher rainfall, for the spring/summer season between September and February, had eased farmers&#8217; drought fears. But the South African Weather Service said it was uncertain how much rain there would be.
An El Nino weather pattern which ended in May triggered drought conditions across southern Africa. South African temperatures reached historic peaks and 2015 was the driest year since records began in 1904.
South Africa&#8217;s maize crop was decimated with current forecasts pointing to a 26.6 percent lower harvest this year due to the severe drought. White maize, the food staple, doubled in price last year, helping to fuel inflation. 
Indian Ocean conditions may not be conducive for rainfall during spring with most climate models indicating a marginal prospect of above normal rainfall conditions toward early summer, the Weather Service said.
&#8220;If we have got the current conditions prevailing we are most likely to have high temperatures going forward,&#8221; said Nhlonipho Nhlabatsi, a senior research manager with the Weather Service.
Most parts of South Africa are still experiencing drought conditions and water stress despite the strong El Nino dissipating, the Weather Service said.
&#8220;The recovery of South Africa from drought conditions may take some time, depending on rainfall and temperature conditions over the coming spring through summer 2016/17 season,&#8221; it added.
 
(Editing by Adrian Croft)﻿
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South Africa's drought recovery could be stalled by uncertain rain prospects

South Africa and Brazil have much in common, including volatile politics, corruption scandals, economic decline and ratings downgrades. What sets these two countries apart?
South Africa marked a historic haul of 10 medals at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, equalling its best performance ever. Host country Brazil secured 19 medals, but its much larger population means that the country won 0.01 medals per million people, compared to 0.5 medals per million people for South Africa. For Brazilians, the Games were also mired in controversy over fears that venues would not be ready in time and would end up as white elephants, while the overall cost of the games was indefensible at a time when Brazil is suffering its worst recession in decades (never mind that the cost came in way over the initial budget).
Brazil is probably the country that resembles South Africa the most, given its extreme income inequality, resource dependence,  tendency to attract hot money capital flows, as well as its relatively sophisticated private sector. At the time of winning the bid for the Olympics, many South Africans were green with envy at the country’s progress in achieving rapid economic growth and eradicating poverty. It seemed as if Brazil had changed substantially for the better, recovering from the global recession relatively quickly, and was acknowledged as one of the most promising emerging markets. However, over the past few years, much like South Africa, Brazil was hit hard by the commodity price collapse. This also exposed how much of the country’s growth rate was inflated by a credit boom and overvalued currency.
Messy politics
The economic crisis in Brazil is to a great extent a political crisis. Deadlock in a fragmented Congress (with some two dozen parties), worsened by an epic corruption scandal involving nearly $3 billion in bribes and many lawmakers, prominent business people and the country’s largest company, Petrobras, all contributed to Brazil not being able to tackle the economic decline. It could not pass budget legislation to restrict spending and close the deficit, leading to a sharp rise in borrowing costs. Brazil’s government debt jumped from 53% of GDP in 2013 to 68% and is expected to reach 80% (South Africa’s debt to GDP ratio is expected to stabilise at around 50%). Although President Rousseff oversaw most of the Olympic preparations, she could not attend the ceremony because of an impeachment process against her.
South Africa’s politics are also quite messy with the rand, bonds and bank shares selling off after news that Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan may face criminal charges that could lead to his removal. Although Gordhan carries a lot of credibility among local and global investors, South Africa’s institutional strength is not centred only around our Finance Minister. While unnerving, the events of the past week also point to South Africa’s institutional strengths, including a vocal civil society, free press, independent courts and a central bank willing to stick to its mandate.
While Brazil’s budgeting process is in shambles, South Africa has ranked in the top three in the world for the transparency of its budget system. The Finance Minister presents a three-year budget to parliament in February each year with an update in October. There is no reason to expect this to change, irrespective of who the Minister is. Since 2012, Treasury has put in place an ‘expenditure ceiling’ which limits the rand amount of spending that can take place in a fiscal year (hence the talk around ‘reprioritising’ budget items in the aftermath of the ruling party’s local government election losses – the overall spending amount is fixed).
Downgrade risk remains
The risk of a credit rating downgrade for South Africa remains. Ratings agencies are interested in economic growth. There are signs of improvement in the data as the impact of economic shocks fade: electricity supply has stabilised, the drought should ease, and commodity prices are no longer declining. However, sustained growth requires policy reforms that do not appear to be forthcoming. Top of the list are more flexible labour markets and improvements in the performance and governance of state-owned enterprises.
Downgrades are unwelcome but not the end of the world. S&amp;P stripped Brazil of its foreign currency investment grade rating in September 2015, and cut its rating by another notch in February this year. However, at around 11%, Brazil’s 10-year government bond yield is lower now that it is a “junk status” economy than for most of last year when it was still considered investment grade. The main reason is that global ‘risk free’ rates have tumbled. The simplest way to gauge market view of political and currency risk is the higher yield that the Brazilian government pays to borrow in its own currency compared to what the US government pays. This spread over the equivalent US 10-year government bond yields remains elevated, even though it has receded. In the case of South Africa, it remains even well above the long-term average. Unlike December’s ‘Nenegate’ episode, which happened against the backdrop of an emerging market rout (Brazil’s jumped to 16% and South Africa’s10-year yield to 10.6%), the global environment remains much more favourable.
Chart 1: Spread of local currency 10-year government bond yields over US equivalent
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="/media/19198562/chart_1_spread_of_local_currencies.png" width="482" height="290" alt="Chart 1 Spread Of Local Currencies"/>﻿
Source: Datastream
 Credit default swaps (CDS), instruments to insure against default, also reflect the downgrade risk (the higher the CDS, the greater the expected risk of a bond default). Although South Africa’s credit rating is higher, our CDS trade is in the same territory as Brazil’s (and fellow junk status economies Russia and Turkey).
Chart 2:Credit default swaps for key emerging market US dollar bonds
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="/media/19198569/chart_2_credit_default_swaps.png" width="569" height="356" alt="Chart 2 Credit Default Swaps"/>﻿
Source: Datastream
Inflation receding
One area where South Africa has performed differently to Brazil is in terms of inflation. Despite also suffering a currency collapse from 2011 onwards, South African inflation did not move outside the 3-6% target range on a sustained basis.
Brazil’s inflation target is also 3-6% , but its inflation rate soared, forcing the country’s central bank to aggressively hike interest rates, despite the worsening recession. Consumer inflation hovered around 6% between 2010 and 2014, but jumped to 10% by the end of 2015. It has receded only somewhat to 8.7% most recently. Brazil has a history of hyperinflation. Consumer prices increased by over 6 000% in 1990. A second bout of hyperinflation peaked at 4 922% in 1994. Therefore, its central bank has to work hard to maintain credibility, with policy rates at 14.15% (compared to the South African repo rate at 7%).
The most recent data show consumer inflation in South Africa falling to 6% in July, from 6.3% in June. This was slightly lower than expected. Food inflation accelerated to 11.5%, but we are probably close to the peak of the food inflation cycle. Given that food prices rose sharply late last year, the base effect will become much more favourable as we head into 2017. However, the currency remains the main risk factor to the inflation outlook.
Interest rates remain elevated
While rates have fallen in almost every other major economy in the world, they remain elevated in both Brazil and South Africa. However, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) most likely wants to see inflation and inflation expectations head towards the midpoint of the range, rather than sticking around 6%. In a speech last week, Reserve Bank Governor Kganyago voiced his concern that inflation remained too high, fuelled in part by high wage increases. He also pushed for labour market reforms aimed at increasing employment, saying &#8220;We’ve built an economy that produces much more inflation than growth and spits out unemployment as a by-product.&#8221; Although the SARB won’t mention it, it is probably also worried about local political and policy uncertainty against the backdrop of potential US interest rate increases. Maintaining relatively high real interest rates acts as an insurance policy during times of economic uncertainty.
The ‘hawks’ that matter most
Central bankers are traditionally categorised as ‘hawks’ or ‘doves’ depending on their eagerness to hike rates. Ultimately, for South African (and Brazilian) financial markets, the hawks that matter are not a police unit, but the members of the US Federal Open Markets Committee who favour higher rates. However, the Fed chair Janet Yellen remains a dove for now. During the global central bankers’ annual meeting at Jackson Hole, she noted that the case for another US interest rate increase has strengthened, but she still expects rate rises over time to be very gradual.﻿

OPINION: Medals, spreads & hawks – a tale of two countries

South Africa Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan may be charged this week for graft, the City Press newspaper reported on Sunday, citing senior sources in the police, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), and the tax service.
Thirty witnesses had been lined up to testify against Gordhan and three former officials from the South African Revenue Service (SARS), the paper said.
Officials at the NPA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Police summoned Gordhan this week in connection with an investigation into a &#8220;rogue spy unit&#8221; set up in the revenue service when he headed the organisation, rattling South African markets and sending the rand down 5 percent.
The investigation first came to light in February and political pundits have said Gordhan is being undermined by a faction in the government and ruling African National Congress (ANC) allied to President Jacob Zuma.
The newspaper said Gordhan faced a graft charge for granting early retirement to Ivan Pillay, a former commissioner of the South African Revenue Service who is also under investigation.
Zuma said on Thursday he backed Gordhan but was powerless to stop a police investigation into him, signalling a prolonged tussle that could add to market volatility.
South Africa&#8217;s credit rating is set to be cut to junk status this year, according to a Reuters poll this week, with economists surveyed citing the heightened political risk around the Gordhan saga.
Gordhan commands huge respect in the markets and his departure would be a serious blow to Africa&#8217;s most industrialised country, teetering as it is on the brink of recession.
The Sunday Times said Gordhan had told a meeting of Treasury staff on Friday that he and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas could be removed in a cabinet shuffle. Treasury officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.﻿

South Africa's finance minister to be charged for graft -City Press

South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Wednesday that the domestic growth outlook remained bleak, reiterating that economic expansion would be close to zero percent this year as forecast by the central bank.
Gordhan however said the economy was resilient, and Treasury would be sticking to its fiscal targets.
&#8220;I want to argue that we have been capable of making the tough decisions. We&#8217;ve shaved budget after budget, number after number to remain fiscally credible,&#8221; he told the chamber of commerce in Cape Town.
Africa&#8217;s most industrialised country narrowly avoided downgrades to subinvestment status in a round of reviews by the three major ratings agencies in the first half of the year, but is teetering on the brink of recession.
In additional remarks, Gordhan read a statement he had issued earlier, stating that he would not appear before police who had requested him to meet them over an investigation into a suspected rogue spy unit in the tax service.﻿

South Africa finmin says Treasury managing to remain "fiscally credible"

South Africa&#8217;s rand tumbled to its weakest in a month and yields on bonds spiked on Wednesday after a special investigations unit ordered Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan to report to police in relation to a surveillance unit in the state tax service.

South Africa's rand, bonds sink after police summon finance minister

Hotel and gaming group Sun International became the latest South African business to pull out of Nigeria because of weak economic growth and clashes with regulators in the west African country.
In January Nigeria&#8217;s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) launched a probe into Sun International&#8217;s initial investment in the Tourist Company of Nigeria, which owns and operates the 5-star Federal Palace hotel in Lagos.
Sun International, which reported a 20 percent fall in diluted adjusted headline earnings per share (AHEPS) to 628 cents for the year to June, said the Federal Palace had been hit by slow economic growth, the low oil price, the threat from Boko Haram and a weakening naira.
&#8220;The board has decided to exit Nigeria and steps will be taken to achieve this in a manner that does not erode further value,&#8221; the company said in a statement.
&#8220;Continued setbacks in Nigeria as well as the ongoing shareholder dispute have frustrated all attempts to develop and improve the property.&#8221;
Sun International is the latest South African company to clash with Nigerian authorities after telecoms group MTN was fined for failing to disconnect users with unregistered SIM cards.
Sun International&#8217;s decision to exit Nigeria follows food and clothing retailer Woolworths and Tiger Brands, which sold its loss-making Nigerian division to Dangote Industries.
Nigeria, Africa&#8217;s largest economy, is suffering its worst financial crisis in decades as a slump in oil revenues hammers public finances and the naira. The central bank governor has said recession is likely.
Shares in Sun International were down 0.7 percent by 0855 GMT.
Reporting its results, the company said poor economic conditions and general negative sentiment in its home market of South Africa resulted in revenue growth at casinos of only 0.8 percent at 7 billion rand ($514.78 million).
&#8220;In South Africa, the economic environment remains a serious concern. We do not anticipate any meaningful growth in gaming revenue until there is a recovery in the economy and renewed consumer confidence,&#8221; Chief Executive Graeme Stephens said.
The South African Reserve Bank expects economic growth at zero percent this year, due to a severe drought and falling commodity prices. ($1 = 13.5980 rand)﻿

South Africa's Sun International leaves Nigeria on weak economy

Chinese state-owned Beijing Automobile International Corporation (BAIC) has signed a deal to invest 11 billion rand ($823.30 million) in an industrial zone in South Africa&#8217;s Eastern Cape province, the operator of the zone said on Thursday.
The deal will see BAIC open an automotive manufacturing plant in the Coega Industrial Development Zone near South Africa&#8217;s Nelson Mandela Bay, the Coega Development Corporation said in a statement.﻿

Beijing Automobile Intl Corp to invest $800 mln in S.African industrial zone

With South Africa&#8217;s #feesmustfall reloaded slowly gaining momentum, it is yet to be seen whether students will be singing the same song in this year’s protests.
Some universities in KwaZula-Natal and Gauteng shut down campuses on Wednesday on rumours of a possible major fee hike after Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande postponed his media briefing on the issue. The Democratic Alliance’s (DA) student body for tertiary institutions, Democratic Alliance Student Organisation (DASO) recently condemned the shutdown of universities.
Last year in October, universities across South Africa went on a shut down after announcements that tuition fees for 2016 would get a 10.5 % inflation-linked increase. President Jacob Zuma then addressed students at the Union Buildings and announced a 0% “fee increase” for this year. This was greeted by scenes of student contentment.
Not long after, communication broke down between students and Student Representative Councils (SRCs) as some students from universities such as Wits, University of Cape Town, and Rhodes University wanted to continue with the strike for free education. Rumours surfaced of SRC leaders holding secret talks with government and accepting bribes, posing critical questions on the credibility of SRCs.
In this year’s looming protests, student leaders want students to be leaders. Consultations between South African Union of Students (SAUS) and student political organisations from universities are ongoing as part of accountability to scholars.
“We want students to lead the struggle with the guidance of the SRC. Last year students were led by just students so we want to remove that,” says Avela Mjajubana, president of SAUS.
Mjajubana says this time it has clarity and wants ‘free quality education’ for 2017. It has engaged with stakeholders and SRCs to address other issues faced by universities. EFFSC President Mpho Morelane said it was not interested in shutdown calls instructed by SAUS, describing them as ‘temporary strikes’. Nevertheless, according to Mjajubana, SAUS was going to have a meeting with EFFSC leadership on Wednesday afternoon.
“We will be meeting with them; we will get clarity to why they don’t want participation because the free education call is a genuine call. We will be meeting with them to hear what they are rejecting from the union,” says Mjajubana.
This followed after DASO opposed the shutdown saying the protests would not solve the problem and put the blame on SAUS.
“Such a move will only make the situation worse for all students, especially those from poor backgrounds, by disrupting valuable academic teaching and support,” reads a statement issued by DASO on the DA’s website. “The calls to disrupt teaching time by the poorly disguised ANC front organisation, SAUS, is nothing more than an attempt to distract attention away from the Luthuli House’s blame in this regard.”
DASO called on Universities and students to stand together to hold on to what it describes as ‘real culprits’ – the ANC government and Blade Nzimande. Mjajubana says SAUS is still waiting on its secretary general to see whether DASO is meeting with them or not.
South African Students Congress (SASCO) says it is taking part in consultations with stake holders and wants free education for the poor and that it is still working on funding models of their demands. It  criticised DASO and EFFSC for boycotting the shutdowns and questioned their intentions with last year’s protests and the protests in January.
“It shows that their intentions weren’t really student related concerns, they were targeting the government for whatever they were targeting in particular towards the local government elections,” says Tembani Makata, Sasco secretary general of SASCO.
Makata goes on to criticize both DASO and EFFSC’s refusal to participate in SAUS which is made up of all SRC members who represent all political organisations.
“To us it is a problem because they have a proper platform to engage with SRC deployees that are coming from different political organisations with different mandates, to at least reach particular concerns on how we are going forward,” says Makata. “It does now show that their leadership is concerned about students but it shows they are concerned more about their political mother bodies.”
Makata went on to say SASCO is not an ally of the ANC. “We are not a student wing of the African National Congress. The ANC has a youth structure which is the ANC youth league, we have an understanding with the ANC and we have relations which are based on our ability to compliment and criticize the ANC.”
Makata says DASO and EFFSC are ‘direct products’ of their organisational structures and are not able to differentiate between parent party political issues to institutional issues.   
SAUS’s Mjabjubana says the union has fears of political affiliations denting the student movement and dividing students. “If you have a fraction of a student political organisation saying they distance themselves, it means those who are following them will also have that mentality.” 
President Jacob Zuma appointed a commission of enquiry for feasibility of free education in the wake of fees must fall protest in January this year. The report which was tasked for eight months was extended until November. The SAUS rejects and opposes this move.
“We are disappointed with the pace of the established commission. It can’t be that a commission has only started to deal with logistics in the past six months,” says Mjajubana.
University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) campus in Pietermaritzburg and the Walter Sisilu University Umtata campus cancelled its lectures and University of Johannesburg have started with demonstrations. Divisions between students were visible when Congress of SA Students  (COSAS) labelled SASCO ‘Lazy’ after SASCO dragged high school children to join them in their fees must fall protest in University of Johannesburg Doornfontein campus.
 SAUS has called on universities to arrange mass meetings which will end on Saturday 20th of August when the last university, Walter Sisulu, will hold a mass meeting.

South Africa: Student political affiliations vs free education

South Africa&#8217;s petroleum industry and striking workers agreed to a new two-year wage deal on Wednesday, ending a three-week strike that caused limited supply disruptions, an official representing employers said.
Around 15,000 striking workers affiliated to Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers union (CEPPWAWU) agreed a 7 percent wage increase this year and an April CPI plus 1.5 percent hike in the second year, said Zimisele Majamane, the deputy chairman of the National Petroleum Employer&#8217;s Association.
 
(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by James Macharia)﻿

South African fuel strike ends after three-week

An idea that was inspired by a demand for chilli around Gauteng brought international recognition for the Chilli of Soweto. This tasty, organically-grown chilli variety has been listed as the 45th unique product in South Africa on the international Ark of Taste.
The Ark of Taste finds and promotes small-scale quality products from around the world that exemplify the cultures they sprung from – from fruits and vegetables to cheeses and sweets.
The Chilli of Soweto was developed by Siyanzenzela Plant Biotech and Agricultural Consultants after one of their team members, Nkosinaye Radebe realised the demand for dried chilli “by the guys who sell cooked ox head meat,” according to Phila Cele, the company’s founder “We then ordered seedlings from KZN and we started planting in 2012.”
The new chilli variety was cultivated in the Siyanzenzela gardens in Phiri, Soweto. Today they produce nearly 200kgs of chilli a week in season and sell one kilogram for R10. A range of vegetables and herbs grow alongside the chillies in the football field size gardens. 
The recognition happened after the founder of International Slow Food Movement and the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy, Ambassador Carlo Petrini paid a visit to one of Cele’s gardens in Soweto.
“The guys from Slow Food South Africa had been regularly visiting the gardens and when Mr Petrini came to South Africa, they suggested he’d also visit. He was very impressed when he saw the chilli,” says Cele.
Siyazenzela Plant Biotech and Agricultural Consultants have never received global recognition before.
According to Petrini the food gardens he had seen were fantastic and reinforced the message that organic food is not just for people with money.
 “At the moment we do not supply any big companies. We have sold our chilli to Fontana Spar, at Claim Street in Hillbrow. We have also supplied the vendors at the Hillbrow Market and the Indian market in Fordsburg and Lenasia,” he says. 
Cele has a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Microbiology and an Honours degree in plant biotechnology, both from Wits University. He started farming in 2011 when he launched Siyazenzela.
Subjects he is interested in researching at the moment include:  Are natural agricultural methods sustainable, water efficient, labour saving and good for the improvement of soil quality? Do natural agricultural methods improve the nutritional value of crops?
The Chilli of Soweto will be one of the attractions at the Slow Food Soweto Eat-In &amp; Food Conference which takes place at the Soweto Theatre on Saturday, September 3.
“The slow food industry needs more attention and recognition. It can create long lasting employment,” Cele says.
For more, go to Instagram:  siyazenzelaplantbiotech﻿﻿

Chilli of Soweto gets international recognition

South Africa could lose 60,000 jobs in the beverage industry due to a proposed tax on sugary drinks, chairman of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, Phil Gutsche, said on Tuesday.
The National Treasury has proposed a 20 percent tax on sugar sweetened drinks under a plan that delighted health campaigners and angered drink makers. The sector employs about 200,000 people in a country where unemployment is at near record high.
 
(Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; Editing by James Macharia)﻿
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South Africans could lose 60,000 jobs on sugar tax

“What’s really important for me is being clear, and that it’s okay to be a woman, it is okay to have a voice,” says Sharon Piehl months into her job as General Manager of FleishmanHillard, Johannesburg.
Piehl was appointed as General Manager of FleishmanHillard Johannesburg in May 2016, after spending five years as the lead of FleishmanHillard’s Brand Marketing portfolio. What does it take for a woman, especially one who takes eight months out of her career to start a family, to rise to this level of leadership?
The journey started early for Piehl when she became head librarian in grade 7 and later a prefect in grade 12.
“I became prefect in my matric year and I realised that you should just own your moment and when you’re comfortable and confident then people around you are comfortable and confident,” she says.
Piehl started her corporate career at Allied Technologies Limited (Altech), where she reported to the Group Communications Executive who reported directly to the CEO.  After several years, she moved on to an agency, Inzalo Communications, where she worked for ten years.
“In a local agency you learn everything and so you start to make it your business, to understand how business works, working and grabbing every opportunity,” says Piehl.
After a break of eight months raising her twins, she had the opportunity to work at a brand marketing position in FleishmanHillard and that was her opportunity to grow her business and leadership skills.
“Although eight months does not seem like a long time, the changes in the communications industry were certainly noticeable. I was excited to have the opportunity to learn and adjust to the new disciplines in the evolving industry,” said Piehl.
In all it took Piehl five years to get the GM position. 
“My message to my leadership team when I became GM was, stand alongside me as we embark on a new journey, stand ahead of me when armed with the knowledge and talent, and behind me when we face challenges,” says Piehl.
Working at one of the top global communication firm, Piehl says that leadership is understanding when to depend on other people’s strengths when you’re not feeling strong yourself. It is then when they’ll lift you up.
As a leader, Piehl inspires the team through her unwavering passion and self-commitment to excellence. She lives and teaches through her life’s philosophy, “Do it with passion or not at all. I believe that you should always push the boundaries and challenge yourself. Only hard work, commitment and loyalty will get you where you are going.”
“Your career is your responsibility. Put your hand up regardless the size or importance of the task. Take time to learn about how everything works in your company. Surround yourself with different types of people and lastly, always have a passion for what you do, and find ways to continuously ignite this,” she says.﻿
 For more on Sharon Piehl, <a style="line-height: 1.42857;" href="/tv/shows/kicking-doors/?ytid=MVRJKdf0Ee8" target="_blank">click here.</a>

Five years to the GM's chair

Katy Barnato
Source: <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/18/drought-mudslinging-casts-gloom-on-south-africa.html">Drought, mudslinging casts gloom on South Africa</a>
Prospects for Africa&#8217;s second-largest economy looked gloomy on Friday, after the central bank hiked interest rates at a time of slumping economic growth, drought and a political power battle.
 Faced with the coupling of a worsening growth outlook and inflationary pressures, the South Africa Reserve Bank opted to hike the repurchase interest rate by 25 basis points to 7 percent. The bank also cut its prediction for growth in 2016 and 2017 to 0.8 percent and 1.4 percent respectively. 
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/103481082-South_Africa_drought.jpg?v=1529471003&amp;w=1910&amp;h=1000" data-licensor-name="hsaan Haffejee | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images" width="1910" alt="Livestock in Free State, South Africa are struggling to find water due to the drought." height="1000"></img>
 As a drought intensifies food price pressure, inflation is seen averaging 6.6 percent this year, having jumped to 6.2 percent in the year to January. The drought is one of the worst on record, necessitating imports of key crops and pushing up food prices, as well as leading the government to reallocate spending to provide drought relief. 
 Earlier this month, Moody&#8217;s Investors Service placed South Africa&#8217;s &#8220;Baa2&#8221; rating on review for downgrade. A cut of two notches or more would take South Africa&#8217;s rating to non-investment or &#8220;junk&#8221; grade, a judgment on the country&#8217;s ability to repay lenders. This could sharply hike the nation&#8217;s borrowing costs and cast doubt on its policymakers&#8217; ability to manage the economy. 
 Rival agencies Standard &amp; Poor&#8217;s and Fitch rate South Africa at &#8220;BBB-&#8220;. That&#8217;s equivalent to a Moody&#8217;s rating of &#8220;Baa3&#8221; and only one notch off junk territory. 
Graft allegations
 The economic fears come as a crisis envelops South Africa&#8217;s ruling elite. A well-known business family with ties to President Jacob Zuma stands accused of exercising undue influence over political appointments. 
 The latest complainant is the former boss of South Africa&#8217;s state-run power firm, Eskom. On Friday, South Africa&#8217;s Mail &amp; Guardian newspaper cited Zola Tsotsi as saying that he had been pushed out of his role by the Gupta family for &#8220;not playing the game.&#8221; 
 The Indian-born Guptas were also accused this week of offering cabinet posts to two politicians of the ruling ANC, according to media reports. 
 Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas said on Wednesday that the Gupta family had offered him the role of finance minister, shortly before Nhlanhla Nene was sacked from the position in December, according to Reuters. 
 The Guptas have denied trying to influence political appointments, the news agency said. 
 The removal of Nene saw the South African rand depreciate sharply and piqued investors&#8217; concerns about the government. 
 Now, the longevity of Nene&#8217;s successor as finance minister, Pravin Gordhan, seems precarious. 
 &#8220;It seems that Gordhan has never been fully accepted in his post and we would not be surprised if he were eventually pushed out. To state the obvious, markets would not take that well,&#8221; Win Thin, head of emerging market currency strategy at BBH, said in a note on Wednesday. 
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Drought, mudslinging casts gloom on South Africa

Katy Barnato
Source: <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2015/12/15/after-brazil-is-south-africa-the-next-em-to-go-bad.html">After Brazil, is South Africa the next EM to go bad?</a>
 Slowing growth, financial market instability and political turmoil — could South Africa be the next major emerging market to follow Brazil and lose its investment grade rating? 
 Africa&#8217;s most developed economy has just racked up its third finance minister in five days, raising fears among economists that the country&#8217;s political and economic problems could see the country&#8217;s credit rating diving into &#8220;junk&#8221; territory. 
 As of December, Standard &amp; Poor&#8217;s (S&amp;P) and Fitch Ratings rate South Africa&#8217;s credit worthiness at just one notch above junk status, at BBB-minus. Moody&#8217;s Investors Service rated it one degree higher than its rivals, at Baa2 (equivalent to BBB.) 
 Analysts at private bank Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) and emerging markets (EM) specialist, Renaissance Capital, forecast South Africa&#8217;s rating will be cut further in 2016, hitting the country&#8217;s economic status as it will find it more and more expensive to raise money. 
 &#8220;We reiterate our long-standing call that the nation gets cut to sub-investment grade, and now it&#8217;s likely sooner rather than later… We think a downgrade is a done deal,&#8221; BBH said in a report on Friday. 
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/100550573-cape-town-south-africa-gettyp.jpg?v=1532564710&amp;w=1910&amp;h=1000" data-licensor-name="Hoberman Collection | Universal Images Group | Getty Images" width="1910" alt="Cape Town, South Africa" height="1000"></img>Similarities with Brazil
 Brazil and South Africa are among the largest economies on their respective continents and both have suffered slowing economies and cuts to their credit ratings this year. 
 S&amp;P cut Brazil&#8217;s rating to junk status in September and Fitch slashed its rating to the lowest investment grade in October. Moody&#8217;s put Brazil&#8217;s rating on review for a cut to junk earlier in December. 
 &#8220;EM is under stress… Up to this week, we were worried about Brazil, Russia and Turkey among many others. Then last week, South Africa joined the club,&#8221; Demetrios Efstathiou, head of trading strategy at ICBC Standard Bank, said in a report on Monday. 
 &#8220;Will South Africa become a second Brazil? The thought is very scary,&#8221; he later added. 
Pressure on presidents
 A series of bruising political missteps and scandals has raised doubt over the abilities of Brazil&#8217;s Dilma Rousseff and South Africa&#8217;s Jacob Zuma to rejuvenate their economies — and their futures. 
 Brazil&#8217;s congress launched impeachment proceedings against Rouseff this month and the sacking of the South African finance minister last week and his replacement with first one candidate and then another in a matter of days has cast doubt over Zuma&#8217;s leadership. 
 &#8220;Rating agencies will &#8216;wait and see,&#8217; but are highly discomfited by Zuma&#8217;s move,&#8221; Barclays analysts said in a report on Tuesday. 
 &#8220;The surprising sequence of events… has raised the question of whether President Zuma will continue in office or whether a political formula will be found to see him leave the stage,&#8221; they added later. 
Slowdown vs. deep recession
 Both countries&#8217; economies have slowed this year and their currencies have tanked, in part due to waning investor sentiment on EM and expectations about when the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates. 
 South Africa&#8217;s economy has been hit by the slump in international commodity prices, contracting by a seasonally adjusted annualized 1.3 percent between April and June, quarter-on-quarter, and growing by only 0.7 in the third quarter, according to preliminary official estimates. 
 Official data on Tuesday showed that South African non-farm payrolls for the third quarter inched up 0.1 percent on the previous three months, but remained flat on the same period the year before. 
 However, South Africa&#8217;s economy is expected to grow across each of 2015 and 2016, with Barclays analysts forecasting expansion of 1.4 percent this year and 1.8 percent next. 
 By comparison, Brazil is far worse off, mired in a steep recession, with Barclays forecasting its economy will shrink by 3.8 percent this year and 2.8 percent in 2016. 
 &#8220;Brazil&#8217;s political fragility increased significantly this year, but we think the political crisis is not over. The risk of Rousseff&#8217;s impeachment remains elevated in 2016 and an expanding corruption scandal threatens further economic deterioration,&#8221; Alberto Gallo, head of global macro credit research at RBS, said in a report last week. 
 — Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook.

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