For whom the bell tolls

As I heard the church bells toll on the evening of March 16 – which is when I wrote this piece – I was reminded of the phrase 'for whom the bell tolls'. It refers to the church bells that are rung... 

You break it, you buy it

“Beautiful to look at, lovely to hold, but if you should break it, consider it sold.” This rhyme evokes memories of the terror I experienced as a youngster when I was about to enter a shop... 

Focus on tariff determinations

The National Budget has always tended to be an uninspiring affair as far as customs, excise and international trade are concerned. Its focus tends to be limited to increases in the so-called sin... 

TFA – three years on

The World Trade Organisation’s (WTO's) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), the first multilateral deal concluded in the WTO’s 25-year history, celebrated its third year of existence on February 22.... 

Stumbling from failure to failure

To avoid embarrassing him, I will not mention the name of my economics professor from Eastern Europe who had a small bust of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Lenin, on his desk. Although,... 

Geographic indication in Brexit aftermath

For as long as I can remember, my favourite meal, if it qualifies to be called that, has been a toasted cheese-and-tomato sandwich. I fondly recall many an afternoon at what was then Café 101,... 

Brexit: end of the beginning

As I gazed across SW15, the postcode of the city famously known as London, at 00:01 GMT on January 31, Brexit – a portmanteau of ‘British’ and ‘exit’ – which signifies the withdrawal of the UK from... 

It’s time govt went back to basics

During the week of January 20, the UK-Africa Investment Summit took place in London and the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. As I contemplated the two events from a... 

HS2022 edition launched

The World Customs Organisation (WCO) announced on January 8 that the seventh edition of the Harmonised Commodity, Description and Coding System (HS) nomenclature, used for the uniform... 

2020: the year of the IMF bail-out?

The year 2020 is the Year of the Rat. This is according to the Chinese zodiac. The Chinese believe that the rate signifies wealth and surplus. In South Africa, 2020 is anticipated to be the polar... 

It’s time to put South Africa Inc into business rescue

To complicate something simply means to make something more difficult to deal with or understand. Why not simplify it? Take the South African economy and its performance – it is no more difficult... 

Variable outlook with persistent challenges

We live in a world where words have been deprived of their original meaning. So accustomed have we become to seeing and hearing some words that they have lost their impact. We have become numb to... 

SOEs the worst they have ever been

The above headline is part of a sentence in a report released by the Auditor General on November 20, which reads: “The overall audit outcomes of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) are the worst they... 

It’s time to set South African Airways free

You might have one schoolteacher or more who made an enduring impression on you. It might be something that they said or that they attuned you too. Although their name might have faded in memory,... 

Moulting, molting, sloughing or ecdysis

There is one word missing from the title that, in biology, refers to the process where many invertebrates and animals routinely cast off a part of there body, which, in many instances – but not... 

Hitting SA’s economic challenges head-on

I write this column at a time of celebration. 32-12. Need I say no more? Capturing the English psyche on the day, the advertised prime-time programme is about that ‘unsinkable ship’ – the RMS... 

The bobbin industry’s contribution to English

You may be familiar with or have used or still use the phrases ‘knock off’, ‘fast and loose’ and ‘happy hour’. What you might not know is what the three phrases have in common. A hint: they all... 

The real cost of graft in South Africa

Speaking at the Financial Times Africa Summit, in London, on October 13, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the cost of this predecessor’s decade-long rule “runs way beyond, in my view, more than... 

Africa’s trade bloc mirage

The word ‘mirage’ originates from the Latin mirari, which means to look at, to wonder at, to mirror or to admire. There are, in fact, three categories of a mirage: inferior, superior and Fata... 

Economic recovery and transformation strategy

A mounting challenge facing all South Africans is not what you might might think of. The challenge facing us is that we are confronted with words and phrases that simply do not mean what we might... 

The Presidential Economic Advisory Council

US satirist and mathematician Tom Lehrer is credited with saying: “The ‘new’ approach, as you know, the important thing is to understand what you are doing rather than to get to the right answer.”... 

SA’s Brexit approach: Roll over and play dead

I concluded the August 30 instalment of this column, which was titled ‘Brexit – we’re not gonna take it’, with this sentence: “It is time for South Africa to step up and take the game to Britain.”... 

The route to perpetual inequality

This week I continue my trip down memory lane. I focus on that formation – economic or political, depending on your preference – that was in 2001 referenced as BRIC by then chairperson of Goldman... 

Butterfly approach to trade

Do you recall 'the butterfly approach to trade? Do not judge yourself harshly if you don't; even the most effective of search engines does not recall. But it does recall the effect, 'the butterfly... 

Dream on, National Treasury

On August 27, the National Treasury released a 59-page economic policy paper titled 'Economic Transformation, Inclusive Growth, and Competitiveness: Towards an Economic Strategy for South Africa'.... 

Nationalise pensions

To nationalise or to prescribe? In South Africa, a case of ‘potato potato’, as the saying goes, which I appreciate, makes no sense when writing it. Although incorrect, altering it to ‘potato... 

Brexit – We’re not gonna take it

October 31 is only 76 days away – well, at the time of writing. It should be close to 62 days away as you read this piece. Although Brexit – that is, Britain exiting the European Union (EU) – is... 

SA’s perpetual Zeigarnik effect

“Round and round the circle / Completing the charm / So, the knot be unknotted / the cross be uncrossed / the crooked be made straight / And the curse be ended” wrote TS Eliot in his poem, Family... 

Is it seasons out of time for the SA pie?

It might well be a case of mixing metaphors, for which Mrs Weston, my much-revered English high school teacher of many years past, would, without a shadow of a doubt, have my guts for garters. So,... 

SOEs are growth-negative contributors to SA economy

Is the South African economy down on its luck, down on its knees, face down, downtrodden, or simply down and out? What is without question is that the South African economy is letting South... 

Man on the moon

“My heart turns my mind into circles / As I lie here all alone in my bed / The moon shines brightly through my window / And I wonder if it's true what they say / That there’s a man... / A man on... 

Let’s try this again, shall we?

The words in the headline were uttered by Agent H with an appropriate pause and desperate sigh. Agent H is the lead in Men in Black – International, the latest and fourth instalment of the MIB... 

World Trade Profiles 2019

The opening verse of The Flying Lizards' song, Money (That's What I Want), remind us: “The best things in life are free.” But the band goes on and spoil it with “But you can give them to the birds... 

What SA needs to attain economic growth

“We cannot turn our fortunes around without a relentless focus on economic growth. Price stability is a necessary but not sufficient condition for economic growth. Our Constitution also requires... 

Sona – so, how you gonna do it?

When I read President Cyril Ramaphosa's State of the Nation on June 20, all 6 741 words of it, the chorus of rock group Nickelback’s song Rockstar – "So how you gonna do it?” – kept reverberating... 

Let’s face it: economic disaster is looming in SA

“What is the cost of lies? It is not that we will mistake them for the truth. The real danger is that if we hear enough lies, then we no longer recognise the truth at all. What can we do then? What... 

Thumperian Principle

Now tell me that the headline did not evoke the thought of Donald Trump – even though there is an ‘h’, and not an ‘r’ after the “T”. The principle in question is also known as the Thumper’s Rule.... 

Time for Itac spring-clean and reform

President Cyril Ramaphosa's appointment of former Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel the Minister in charge of the new Department of Trade and Industry , which was merged with the... 

SA’s ‘very old’ trade remedies

In 2003, the International Trade Centre (ITC) published a 290-page book on trade remedies, titled Business Guide to Trade Remedies in South Africa and the Southern African Customs Union –... 

South Africa Tax Freedom Day

May 18 was Tax Freedom Day in South Africa. Do I hear you asking why this could not be on January 1? Tax Freedom Day in 2019 did not come soon enough. If anything, it should be celebrated on the...