Mr President, reality on the ground is horrifyingly different

As President Cyril Ramaphosa prepares to woo businesspeople in the United Kingdom with his wonderful vision of South Africa as the perfect destination for investment, the reality on the ground is horrifyingly different.

This week, there was more trouble at Richards Bay Minerals, where construction vehicles were burnt, not long after the murder of a senior manager. There has been talk that further incidents of violence, related to
employment and contracts at the mine, could see the company pull out.

And then, dairy giant Clover announced that it was closing its cheese factory in the North West town of Lichtenburg because of the collapse of municipal services.

It cited problematic electricity and water supplies and a badly potholed road to the plant – none of which have been addressed by the municipality, despite repeated complaints – as impacting on the factory’s viability.

Although it is true Clover had been wanting to pull out of the province since 2013, because it is far away from suppliers and markets, the service non-delivery will have made up its mind.

Why, Comrade President, would foreigners want to put money into a country where they cannot be assured of the basics, never mind whether you might expropriate their businesses one day?