Economy-focused Mbombela event highlights GNU positives
The programme included a R50 000 cheque handover to We Care 4 Nelspruit to aid it in its public works.
“The economy is heading in the right direction.”
These were the words shared by the economist and director of Ninety One, Jeremy Gardiner.
SPI Wealth, BMW and Ninety One hosted an event themed ‘A new beginning’ at BMW Nelspruit on Wednesday October 23, where Gardiner delivered the main presentation, shedding light on the current economic state of the country.
He began his presentation by playing a video clip that reflected on the progress of the country before and after this year’s elections.
According to him, the Government of National Unity (GNU) has allowed South Africans to breathe a sigh of relief.
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“We don’t give the ANC enough credit for how they handled the outcome of the elections. At no point did they claim the votes were rigged. They simply accepted their fate and began planning for a coalition government.”
He added that the ANC was smart for allowing the parties to decide whether they wanted to be a part of the GNU. He said this resulted in a GNU that is not based on populism.
“Let’s say we put up a populist GNU. A populist government is investor-unfriendly, therefore the rand weakens, debt payments rocket, petrol prices rise, inflation rises, interest rates rise and investment collapses. That is where we could have been. “But instead, the GNU is business-friendly, the rand yields strengthen; this reduces debt payments, the rand rises, inflation falls, investments and economic growth increases, jobs are created and the crime rates decreases. We therefore have more taxpayers and revenue, state-owned enterprises continue and state capture arrests will continue,” said Gardiner.
He said the relationship that our government has with international investors is affected by the political and economic landscape of SA.
He then shed light on how Donald Trump possibly winning this year’s United States presidential elections and his political beliefs could affect SA, citing that Trump supports Israel, does not support China, is anti-immigration and anti-BRICS.
The programme included a R50 000 cheque handover to We Care 4 Nelspruit, an NGO that is dedicated to keeping the streets of Mbombela clean.
The programme’s director, CA(SA)’s wealth adviser, Jacques Hodsdon, concluded the day’s proceedings by leading the guests to the refreshments.
