And so business must continue to manage the risks, says BLSA CEO.
Until a year ago, our diplomatic relations with the world were not particularly relevant to the business environment. But that changed dramatically when the Lady R, a sanctioned Russian ship, docked in Simon’s Town, having turned off its transponders before doing so. The news caused the rand to fall and has increased the cost of doing business.
Read/listen: Lady R to keep her secrets as panel report remains undisclosed ADVERTISEMENT CONTINUE READING BELOW I can understand why those allied with Ukraine in the war with Russia were alarmed. The circumstances of the docking were highly suspicious, and the lack of immediate explanation from the SA National Defence Force compounded the uncertainty. Nato-aligned countries are major buyers of our manufactured goods and raw materials and suppliers of significant amounts of investment.
When President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a panel led by a retired judge to investigate, we called for its work to be done quickly to limit the damage. The inquiry had the potential to help correct the risk premium we are now subject to. It would need to be thorough and credible and resolve fears that South Africa was involved in the Russia/Ukraine conflict.
Some suggest that the ship’s docking in Simon’s Town conflicted with SA Revenue Service port of entry rules, but the report does little else to suggest wrongdoing. Confusingly, the fact that the ship was offloaded at night is explained as necessary, given the classified nature of the goods. Yet the report also said the original plan was to offload the ship at Ngqura or Port Elizabeth, which are normal commercial ports where presumably such protocols couldn’t apply.
*** ADVERTISEMENT CONTINUE READING BELOW Raymond Ackerman was a giant of the South African business community. Our retail industry is world-class in no small part due to the fiery, competitive approach that Ackerman took to building Pick n Pay and his focus on delivering to customers. He was a committed South African, choosing to stay and build South Africa when many others were leaving. His clashes with the apartheid government were legendary.
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