Mr Zuma and Mrs Mandela (A great team)

Been very quiet from South Africa recently, and if we wern't so concerned it could be funny. The ANC has in their wisdon elected Jacob Zuma (don't worry I took a shower afterward) and Winnie (Soccer team? what soccer team?) to the two most powerful positions in the country. We are very worried for our family and friends who are still in South Africa - and this is a huge concern. If you could just see the goings on from our side of the line, you would understand. It's not a good thing. Especially when you read the below artical in the Finance24 site. This guy is dangerous for you all. If there was ever a case of "the boiling frog syndrome" people, this is it...You can't see it when you live there, but it's happening. Our thoughts are with you all.




Zuma to tackle rates 'problem'
Dec 23 2007 02:56 PM
Johannesburg - Jacob Zuma, the newly elected leader of South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) said on Sunday that he would look at inflation targeting, a key monetary policy tool used by the Central Bank to reign in inflation.

SA adopted the policy in 2000 as a framework through which the central bank estimates, and makes public, a "target" inflation rate then aims to steer actual inflation towards the target by increasing or decreasing interest rates.

"Clearly, our main method of inflation targeting, which is hiking the interest rate, has resulted in complaints from both the top end of the financial spectrum as well as the bottom end," The Sunday Independent newspaper reported Zuma as saying.

"So it stands to reason that there's some kind of "problem" there. And though I am not going to pretend that I have delved into the issue properly, it is something that I am going to get to," Zuma said.
SA's central bank has raised repo rates by a total of 400 basis points since June last year to tame rising inflation pressures.