Kevin Wakeford
Kevin Wakeford
Amidst the great deal of negativity which people perceive to have come from the Polokwane conference a year ago is hidden much which bodes well for our future.
This is the view of Kevin Wakeford, a business leader especially well known in the Eastern Province.
“Polokwane was the beginning ‘tipping point’, he told his audience. “Think about this: the ruling party of a country – ours – changed almost all of its top leadership with no riots, civil disturbance or violence. Can you imagine that happening any where else in the world?”
“South Africa has in recent times been in the eye of a storm and this has made for some significantly irrational responses to such circumstances as the international debt crisis”, the former head of the PE Chamber of Commerce and Industry believes. “Yes”, he observes, “interest rates have hit a painful level for consumers and the pain and hardships of sequestrations and repossessions are acute. But there is much which is positive to come from these levels of financial discipline”, he believes There are other examples which he identified. “The ESKOM load-shedding period – you think that was all bad?”, he asks. “The government made a R60-million soft loan which led to much movement and innovation in the electrical sector.”
Look at the recalling of our State President, Wakeford suggests. “Can you see that happening in, say, Zimbabwe? But our democracy and economy are strong enough for us to have managed to do that in South Africa.”
Wakeford saw overreaction, he told the MBA students, local business men and academics in the auditorium, to the events of the so-called ‘Black Tuesday’ on The Johannesburg Stock Exchange, more than R300million was ‘wiped out’ in minutes. “Stock levels
are way below what they should be”, he reckons. “Even the run on the Rand; this was not caused by South African politics which are over shadowed by world events.”
Wakeford accepts that “We are going into tough times. But these are not necessarily bad times – we should make the distinction. We are going to have to work hard but the impetus is beginning, especially in the construction sector. Do we give up?”, he asks.
