Podcasts from the Edge

Agriculture author and expert Wandile Sihlobo tells Peter Bruce in this edition of Podcasts from the Edge that Agriculture mMinister John Steenhuisen has not option but to import foot and mouth vaccines through a centralised operation, despite the threats from many farmers to challenge him in court  to fight for the right to do the vaccinations themselves. “We can't now produce any vaccines,” he says, but, "if you want to vaccinate about 12 million head of cattle and you're not going to do it once  — you will vaccinate and then you need to boost and perhaps vaccinate two more times so that you are fully out of this as Argentina and the others have done before, then you need to have that supply in place.The problem then that Africa has is that we don't have the supply in place ... and then it has to be imported by the state. And in fact, that's what the regulations from the World Organization of Animal Health say. So when Minister Steenhuisen says it's only the government who will import, he's really following the rules.”

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If the past is any guide then some middle-ranking official of officer is going to take the fall for the cock-up at sea last week when an Iranian corvette took part in exercises off of False Bay with the South African, Chinese and Russian navies after President Cyril Ramaphosa, very late in the day, issued instructions (exactly what he said and whether or not he wrote it down we still don’t know) that they should not take part. There was probably no need for the Iranian vessel to follow the others out to sea, veteran military analyst Helmut Roemer Heitman tells Peter Bruce in this edition of Podcasts from the Edge, if it was merely going to observe. You can observe from the bridge of a participating ship. The result of the mess thus created, he says, is that "It'll be have a demoralizing impact on an already demoralized defense force because they'll be given the blame. And that's bad because the morale is already not good for obvious reasons. So you'll have more people leave who we'd rather keep and you'll have fewer people join who we'd like to join” Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com
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One of the best industrial minds in South Africa, XA Global Trade Advisors MD Donald Mackay, tells Peter Bruce in this edition of Podcasts from the Edge that using import tariffs to protect local industry is a losing strategy. “ We assume that the reason our manufacturing sector more broadly struggles to compete is that we assume that an import tariff will fix it whereas the reason we struggle to make things is we've got broken infrastructure. We don't have electricity... The ports are broken.The reason we're not competitive has nothing to do with what other people are doing. Many of our imports are just the importation of [other countries’] electricity that is working consistently and functioning infrastructure and a safe environment to invest in. That is what you're effectively importing.” Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com
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Former DA leader Tony Leon tells Peter Bruce in this edition of Podcasts from the Edge that South Africa is taking a chance in there way it is confronting US President Donald Trump’s decisions to boycott the recent G20 Summit in Johannesburg and his subsequent announcement that he would not permit SA to participate in the G20 under his chairmanship in 2026. Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola calling Trump a “white supremacist” days before the Johannesburg summit was “the most self-harming remark” from the country’s most senior diplomat. It recalls former National Party Prime Minister John Vorster telling the world in 1968 it could “do its damndest” if it thought Apartheid would ever be dismantled. “He did very well in the next election,” remembers Leon, “but I don’t think this will help now. This idea that you can go to a powerful country and give it the middle finger might give you a moment of satisfaction but I think (for) worthwhile diplomats and meaningful diplomacy you have to think twice before you react. South African diplomacy is amateur hour, kind of … if you want a result, if you want to join the cheering gallery of the anti-trumpets in the world well that’s a very crowded saloon and no doubt it makes you feel good but I don;t think its going to meet any of the government’s apparent objectives to grow the economy, to get investment here and bulk up our trade.” Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com
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Peter Bruce argues, in this Podcasts from the Edge monologue, that while the G20 Summit in Johannesburg at the weekend went well, and that the West gathered around to support President Cyril Ramaphosa, he was unable to secure unanimous consensus on the Leaders’ Declaration he cleverly introduced at the beginning, rather than at the close, of the gathering. Whatever the gloss, the absence of the US and the the decision by Argentina not to support the Summit final communique, introduced for the first time a crack in the G20 edifice that may be difficult, if not impossible, to repair. It wasn’t all Ramaphosa’s fault but while the gathering was excellent, it didn’t quite succeed. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com
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