The Chinese say it’s the year of the sheep, a slow and steady year. I guess the Europeans would disagree, with the financial markets already in disarray barely a few weeks into 2015. The Americans seem optimistic as employment figures are positive. And what about us here in South Africa? What are we saying about 2015?
Switzerland decided to abandon their minimum exchange rate against the Euro early in January, having caused much havoc on the financial and currency markets. The Swiss Franc rallied 30% to a value of 0.98 to a Euro and the Swiss Stock Market fell by almost 10% in reaction—a surprise start to 2015!
Greece voted in a new party and new president towards the end of January. This radical left party, Syriza, is led by 40-year-old Alexis Tsipras who has promised to renegotiate the Greek bail out. The party is against the austerity measures imposed on Greece and has promised to renegotiate them. It will be interesting to see if Greece remains in the European Union.
Interestingly the best numbers are coming out of America where quantitative easing seems to have paid off. It could mean recovery for the US economy, and we could see continued growth in 2015. China is still growing, be that at a slower pace.
And South Africa? We are in the midst of an energy crisis with us all experiencing daily unpredictable load shedding, we have a formerly orderly Parliament now calling in the police, and our new Finance Minister is warning us to tighten our belts in preparation for his budget speech later this month. We might be wondering how we will be tightening our belts as we have not yet recovered from the last recession, with savings numbers still extremely low and personal debt at all record highs. Unemployment figures are still high and our GDP still worryingly low.
But I guess we wouldn’t be South Africans if we didn’t have a “can do” attitude. We make a plan – “’n boer maak ‘n plan”. We find a solution! We work around load shedding, individuals to corporates all finding solutions. We will continue to feed our families and make clever plans with our budgets after the 2015 budget speech. And we will continue either to smile or argue about the happenings in Parliament. We make a plan; we see the best in the situation and find a solution.
Even though we might be despondent, we are still hopeful for our future. We love this country and all the promises and gifts that it holds. We love the people, with many of us trying to help the poor and destitute amongst us. I could say, this year is the year of hope: hope that this beautiful country will achieve its potential and harmony is restored; hope that 2015 will be better than 2014. But it has to start with us—us all believing and praying that it is possible, us all making a change so that a bigger change will occur. 2015, a year of hope!
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