The JSE has lost 22% in US dollar terms since President Cyril Ramaphosa took office. The Nasdaq-100 gained 147% and the S&P 500 75% during the same time.<\/p>\n
There was tremendous positivity across South Africa when Ramaphosa took over from former President Jacob Zuma on 15 February 2018.<\/p>\n
Ramaphosa beat Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in the race for the ANC presidency in December 2017, which resulted in Jacob Zuma\u2019s resignation as president two months later.<\/p>\n
Ramaphosa\u2019s campaign focused on fighting corruption and implementing policies conducive to industrialisation and investment.<\/p>\n
The hope of a new dawn engulfed South Africa. Referred to as \u2018Ramaphoria\u2019, the public and business community trusted Ramaphosa to bring about meaningful reforms.<\/p>\n
This did not happen. The initial excitement faded as the deterioration of infrastructure, state-owned enterprises, and government institutions accelerated.<\/p>\n
Load-shedding became a daily occurrence, Transnet collapsed, crime has reached record levels, and corruption is out of control.<\/p>\n
Most local municipalities \u2013 responsible for providing citizens and businesses with electricity, water, and other services \u2013 collapsed.<\/p>\n
These problems, in turn, resulted in poor economic growth, rising unemployment, and skilled people flooding out of the country.<\/p>\n
Many business leaders and economists warned that the country is on the cusp of becoming a failed state.<\/p>\n
Sygnia CEO Magda Wierzycka said South Africa was already a failed state, and the government was sabotaging businesses and killing the economy.<\/p>\n
She added that the poor economic performance means the country has become irrelevant among international investors.<\/p>\n
Renowned economist Dawie Roodt warned South Africa would face a serious financial crisis with rising debt and collapsing state authorities.<\/p>\n
Roodt highlighted that state debt has reached record levels and is rising at an alarming rate.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery soon, the private sector is going to demand much higher returns on the increasing risk for funding the growing state debt,\u201d Roodt said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven the South African Reserve Bank is concerned about the growing amount of state debt the banking sector is funding.\u201d<\/p>\n
The results of poor governance and business-unfriendly policies are clearly seen in the value of the rand and the performance of JSE-listed companies.<\/p>\n
Since Ramaphosa took office, the local currency weakened tremendously against the US dollar \u2013 from R11.55 in February 2018 to R18.63 today in January 2024.<\/p>\n
Without meaningful economic growth and a rapidly increasing population, South Africans became much poorer in US dollar terms.<\/p>\n
The JSE All Share Index (ALSI) performance versus the Nasdaq-100, S&P 500, and MSCI World Index clearly shows how much value the Ramaphosa administration destroyed.<\/p>\n
Since Ramaphosa took office in February 2018, the Nasdaq-100 increased 147%, the S&P 500 75%, and the MSCI World 49%.<\/p>\n
The ALSI, in comparison, declined by 22% in US dollar terms. It was one of the worst-performing exchanges globally.<\/p>\n
The table below shows the performance of the indexes during Ramaphosa\u2019s presidency \u2013 between 15 February 2018 and 10 January 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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