From the sporting arena to business, politics and cultural life, a younger generation is increasingly making its mark
Congratulations to the Springboks for a tremendous game in Baltimore. Sport has a remarkable ability to bring South Africans together, sometimes more effectively than politics ever manages.
But what caught my attention this weekend was something else: young people are increasingly showing the way.
Kimi Antonelli won the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Spain at just 20. And while Amber-Rose Berry’s English Channel swim on 23 August is now several weeks old, watching the 18-year-old from Pringle Bay relive the extraordinary ordeal on Carte Blanche last night brought it vividly back to life.
Berry became the youngest South African woman to swim the Channel, completing the 33 km crossing in an unofficial 10 hours and 27 minutes. She battled cold water, strong currents, jellyfish stings and the wake of passing ships. Watching her story last night was a reminder that sporting achievement is often less about the headline than the sheer determination behind it
They are very different achievements, but both demonstrate the same thing — youth is not simply waiting in the wings.
The same is happening beyond sport. In business, technology, politics and cultural life, younger people are challenging established ways of doing things, creating new businesses and movements, and changing what audiences expect. They are not necessarily more capable than previous generations, but they are growing up in a very different world — and increasingly shaping it themselves.
Perhaps that is one of the more encouraging stories of the moment. While much of the older establishment is arguing about how things used to be done, a younger generation is busy doing them differently.
Dealmakers in Delhi
And so to New Delhi, where the BRICS leaders have just finished another summit and produced another 45-page declaration.
South Africa went to India looking for more trade, investment and industrial opportunities. President Cyril Ramaphosa took part in the India-South Africa Business Leadership Roundtable, with the government highlighting opportunities in pharmaceuticals, infrastructure, critical minerals and the electric-vehicle battery value chain.
The New Delhi Declaration talks of deeper trade and investment, greater use of local currencies and stronger financial cooperation.
Now comes the difficult part: turning summit declarations into deals.
South Africa has no shortage of declarations. What it needs is investment that actually builds things, creates jobs and earns export revenue.
The photograph of leaders signing another declaration is easy. Getting the money into a factory is considerably harder.
The newspaper that may disappear
The possible closure of the Toledo Blade is another reminder of what happens when newspapers disappear.
The paper, founded in 1835, is up for sale and its owners say both its print and digital operations will close at the end of the year if a buyer cannot be found.
Journalist Jack Lessenberry, who first joined the Blade as a summer intern in 1978 and later became a reporter, national correspondent, national editor, writing coach and ombudsman, has written about what the loss would mean.
He recalls that Abraham Lincoln was such a reader of the Blade that, on the last full day of his life, he kept a Cabinet meeting going longer than scheduled so he could read his colleagues the latest satirical spoof from the paper.
But satire has proved rather more resilient than newspapers.
Private Eye continues to skewer British politics and public life, while The Onion, McSweeney’s and the wonderfully outrageous Weekly World News have carried satire into the digital age.
So perhaps the newspaper is not quite dead yet. It has simply lost its monopoly on making fun of the world.
South Africa’s uncomfortable numbers
South Africa’s economy contracted by 0.2% in the second quarter, ending six consecutive quarters of growth. Mining, manufacturing and trade were among the main drags, while the official unemployment rate rose to 33.6%.
Mining provided another dose of bad news last week, with production falling 7.5% year on year in July.
Then there are the apparently impressive profits being reported by the state-owned enterprises. Transnet made R4.6 billion, while Eskom reported R30.3 billion.
But what do these profits actually tell us? Transnet’s result was heavily boosted by a once-off gain from its Durban container-terminal deal, while the rail system still struggles with ageing infrastructure, theft and poor reliability. Eskom may be keeping the lights on, but it still carries enormous debt and municipal arrears. Profit is one thing. A healthy state-owned enterprise is quite another.
And diesel remains expensive for anyone moving goods around the country. From September, 500ppm diesel rose to R29.11 a litre inland and 50ppm to R30.05.
What’s happening on the JSE this week?
Monday: Greencoat Renewables and Optasia — interim results.
Tuesday: Attacq — final results.
Wednesday: Pan African Resources and Supermarket Income REIT — final results.
Thursday: Momentum Group — final results.
Friday: Putprop — final results, and SA Corporate Real Estate — interim results.
Pan African Resources will be one to watch. Its annual results for the year ended 30 June are due on Wednesday, with the gold producer coming off a year in which gold prices have been a major tailwind.
And finally…
A snake was found lurking inside a portable toilet in South Africa, providing another reminder that the country can produce stories no satirist would dare invent.
Monday has arrived.
“I like to keep moving. If you stand still, you’re a target.”
— Chrissie Hynde, The Pretenders, from a recent interview in Variety
