A fallacy is the use of poor or invalid reasoning in the construction of a deceptive, misleading, false notion or belief that is applied in the formulation of an unsound argument. While some fallacies are intentional and are aimed at manipulating or persuading through deception, others are unintentional and are the result of carelessness or ignorance.

An assumption is taking for granted or supposing that something is true or probably true. I am particularly fond of the word ‘assume’, whose composition might well be unintentional – it is visually the most descriptive of any word. It is said that to ‘assume’ makes an ‘ass’ out of ‘u’ and ‘me’.
A fallacy of assumption describes a class of formal and informal logical fallacies that are to do with a flaw in an argument’s assumptions. A common example of a fallacy of assumption is when someone assumes the very thing they are trying to prove. This is commonly known as begging the question, or petitio principii.

A myth is a traditional or legendary story, usually without a determinable basis of fact, and, as a consequence, one with a widely held but false belief or idea.

So, what does all this have to do with South Africa?

Well, possibly much more than you might want to readily admit. What is it that you know about South Africa? Let us start with the elementary – its position in the world? It is in the middle of any world map. It is considered a very wealthy country, blessed with vast mineral and metal riches. The People’s Republic of China, the world’s growth engine, is heavily dependent on South Africa for raw, unprocessed or semiprocessed minerals and metals. It has abundant and cheap labour, as well as great opportunity and economic promise. This is by no means an exhaustive list – you might well be able to substantially extend it.

Is all this factual? Surely, it has to be because you have heard it all umpteen times. When you ask people why South Africa is at the centre of a world map, they tend to look at you in utter amazement. You must be kidding, right? Any educated person knows it to be so. A visual consultation of a world map confirms this. There it is, in the centre, Mr Venter; in the middle, Cyril. The central position is arguably the most desired one.

As a matter of illustration, when Matteo Ricci, the sixteenth-century Jesuit missionary, travelled to China to win converts to his faith, he found that his European maps – showing China relegated to the cartographic graphical margins – failed to endear himself to his hosts. So, he redrew the maps. This resulted in the world map of 1602, which placed China at its centre, an adjustment which is said to have helped him win influence among China’s elite.
So, why does the world map have South Africa at its centre? Is it because of South Africa, or is there another explanation? Quite simply, the map was originally printed in Great Britain, a reference you will normally find at the bottom right-hand corner of the map.

The explanation for this is the prime meridian – a meridian (line of longitude) in a geographical coordinate system at which the longitude is defined to be 0°. The prime meridian is at the Royal Observatory, in Greenwich, London, Great Britain, a place that, incidentally, I visited on the morning of the day I wrote this article. (Allow me to digress for a moment: Have you ever heard the saying ‘keeping your eye on the ball’ and wondered where it came from? A time ball was installed in 1833 at the Royal Observatory to signal the accurate time to passing ships. To this day, the ball still rises just before 13:00 and falls as 13:00 strikes on the clock. In preparation, a few minutes before 13:00, captains watched the ball for accuracy – thus, ‘keeping their eye on the ball’.)

Accepting that its position is not due to its own making, South Africa must surely be one of the riches countries in the world. While South Africa is considered the thirtieth- richest country in the world (top 15%), it places only third on the African continent, after Nigerian (21st) and Egypt (24th). Considering the general level of development of countries on the African continent, its ranking might well deteriorate as these countries start to develop economically. South Africa is also no longer the biggest economy on the continent, having lost that position to Nigeria in 2014.

South Africa is better endowed than most countries as far as minerals and metals are concerned. It accounts for 88% of the world’s known platinum reserves, 80% of its manganese, 72% of its chromium (ferrochrome) and 38% of its gold. You will note the ‘known’, as new reserves tend to be discovered with some regularity. It is, of course, one thing to have the resources, but quite another to extract them profitably.

In 2014, South Africa was seventh in gold production (in 2006 is was first, a position it held for 100 years previously), while China was first; it was seventh in iron-ore production, while China was first; in 2012, it was seventh in coal production, while China was first; in 2013, it was fifth in diamond production; and in 2014 it was first in platinum production.

Have you ever heard of scandium and terbium? These are the two most desired minerals used in everything from powerful magnets in wind turbines to the electronic circuits in smartphones. They are not as rare as you might imagine, since China accounts for 97% of the world’s supply but strategically regulates their supply.

Do you still perceive China to be heavily dependent on South Africa for its minerals and metals demand?

But what of its abundance of cheap labour? It is projected that in 2015 South Africa will have an unemployment rate of 25%, placing it eighth on the world unemployment list, a list it first entered in 1997. According to the International Labour Organisation, in 2014, the unemployment rate among those aged 15 to 24 was around 50%, which placed South Africa third in the world, after Greece and Spain, which were both stricken by the euro crisis. South Africa’s crisis is domestic and self-inflicted.

In terms of socioeconomic measures, in 2013, South Africa ranked first in the world for the most people living with HIV/Aids and had the highest death rate per 1 000 persons, at 17.36 deaths.

Do you still think South Africa is a rich country with unrivalled potential?

A comparison of real gross domestic product growth in 2014 places South Africa 164th out of 195 countries (which means the country was in the bottom 15%).

South Africa might well not be quite what you assume it to be, and that is no myth.