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This economic and trade-focused column is prepared by Riaan de Lange – riaan@tariffandtrade.co.za. The views expressed in this column are the author's personal views

By Riaan de Lange

Irreconcilable and self contradictory

16th March 2018

In his maiden State of the Nation address (Sona), President Cyril Ramaphosa pledged that land expropriation with compensation, which government regards as one of several measures to accelerate land... 


The bogan of the 2018 Budget

9th March 2018

Let me clarify – bogan is not Australian and New Zealand slang, but rather the dark side of the Force in Star Wars, also known as the bad force. If the slang intrigues, it is used to depict a... 


Sowing the wind

2nd March 2018

Once upon a time – long, long ago – in a faraway land, there was a small State-funded village in a magical kingdom. Just in case you were wondering, this is considered the most popular and most... 


A-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh

23rd February 2018

For good measure, you need to repeat the title another three times. Does it sound familiar? If not, then the first three words following the introduction would, “In the jungle”. For good measure... 


Radical economic restoration

9th February 2018

Chances are that you are familiar with the term ‘radical economic transformation’, even though you might not quite know what it means. What does it actually mean? Have you ever come across its... 


Oo, oo, oo, the tide is turning

2nd February 2018

Has the tide really turned? Well, it depends on your perspective. Is the tide turning for the better of for the worse? Before exploring further, let me confess that I typed away with Roger Waters’... 


Analysing customs stats a business imperative

26th January 2018

On February 2, 2009, I had my 15 minutes of fame. I will never forget that morning. It was very early in the morning, with only a few cars on the road, as I made my way to my office at the... 


The smartest guys and gals in the room?

19th January 2018

If only . . .  I fear that the guys and gals are anything but. For one, they have to be in the room. Before I talk about the ‘they’, let me just explain the old business adage, to ‘be in the room’.... 


A race to (or for) the bottom

15th December 2017

“Ha ha ha ha ha. Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want. So tell me what you want, what you really, really want. I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want. So tell me... 


South Africa in junk or high on it?

8th December 2017

Have you seen junk? Ever touched, used it or sailed on it? No, not in it, but on it? A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to sail on a junk while visiting Hong Kong. A junk, a Chinese... 


The Dunning Kruger effect

1st December 2017

Ever heard of Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr? You would, no doubt, have used them. You might well have used it, and continue to use it, on numerous occasion, for “the more things change, the more they... 


Worse than useless, but who is listening?

24th November 2017

The difficulty with the English language – and this is compounded by the fact that South Africa is a country of non-first-language English speakers – is that words tend to be used without their... 


The 2023 Rugby World Cup mistake

17th November 2017

The 2023 Rugby World Cup Mistake “Impi! wo 'nans' impi iyeza, Obani bengathinta amabhubesi?” The opening lyrics of Johnny Clegg and Juluka’s ‘Impi’ resonates with me, as do the images of the... 


No future, no future, for . . . you!

10th November 2017

No future, no future, for … you! It’s strange how these words, granted with the added impetus provided by an old Pioneer, cutting through the silence of a cold dark winter’s night, are not greatly... 


Bleeding Heart Yard

3rd November 2017

It’s a cold, windy and generally a miserable day as I step off Greville street, in Farringdon, in the City of London, seeking shelter from the icy-cold wind. I unwittingly enter a cobbled... 


No matter what the experts say, customs is only about three things

27th October 2017

Do you consider yourself an ‘expert’ or a ‘specialist’ in your chosen profession? If you answered ‘expert’, I would raise a weary smile, for a wise person once told me of an unwittingly (maybe not)... 


Neopatrimonialism is merely ‘a huge embarrassment’

20th October 2017

The dramatic decline to which a select few ‘South Africans’ are subjecting so many of us no longer considered a ‘crisis’. In essence, neopatrimonialism is not considered a crisis’ – it is merely a... 


South Africa falling down a rabbit hole

13th October 2017

The use of graphs to illustrate the South African economy’s trajectory is a superfluous endeavour in the nth degree. The appeal of graphs, your general line graph, is to emphasise the tendency of... 


I can’t explain – you would not understand

6th October 2017

If anything, I have, in the words of Pink Floyd, “become comfortably numb”. My thoughts are miles away as I wonder through the Victoria & Albert, or the V&A. No, not the V&A Waterfront, in Cape... 


Customs inaction – 4 661 days, and still counting

29th September 2017

It is a fateful Saturday. It is September 16. If you cannot recall the day, I have three digits to remind 57-0. Enough said – numbers are clinical when conveying a message. A total of 4 661 days... 


I am unable to replicate your thinking

22nd September 2017

In a country famed for its politeness, you have to take care not of offend, or to be perceived to offend, when expressing an opinion that may differ from those held by people about whom you are... 


Those were the days . . .

15th September 2017

It's Sunday afternoon. It’s hot and humid. You can smell the sea in a faint breeze that barely manages to rattle the leaves of the trees, which have been scorched and hardened by the sun. It is one... 


Don’t make an impact – consciously limit it

8th September 2017

Sometimes I wonder about the costs that I personally impose on the planet. This usually happens when I hear of people being held up, by others, as having made a positive contribution. Is it not... 


South Africa is at war with itself – but why?

1st September 2017

Why, indeed? Why worry? My grandfather used to offer an answer that you might be quite familiar with: “If you worry, you die; if you don’t worry. you also die. So, why worry?” If I were asked this... 


Count them one by one

25th August 2017

It’s summer. It’s raining. It’s cold. In a word, it’s miserable. The Underground is wet, damp and humid. Forget about minding the gap – it is fellow travellers that you have to mind, for they do... 


The real conflict is between truth and lies

18th August 2017

The Real Conflict is between Truth and Lies It is 21 hours since the unthinkable has happened, an event which has divided, and is expected to continue to divide, the athletics world for the... 


Preparing to sell off the family silver?

11th August 2017

The expression to sell or sell off the family silver might not be as well known in South Africa as it is elsewhere in the world. Consequently, the cautionary wisdom to which it alludes to is... 


It’s not about improving

4th August 2017

'Out of the mouths of babes' is a well-known phrase in the Bible that implies that there is truth and wisdom in the comments and observations of children, who are honest and innocent. I am on the... 


Here we are . . .

28th July 2017

Born to be kings. We're the princes of the universe. These are the opening lyrics of British rock band Queen’s 1986 song, Princes of the Universe, and they resonate with me as my car grinds to a... 


By failing to plan, we are planning to fail

21st July 2017

South Africa is stuck in economic and political rut, and “there is no two ways about it" and "there can be no doubt about that”, as one of my bosses of many years past was famed for saying. South... 


A genie granting grants is wishful thinking

7th July 2017

It is said that there are three wishes that a genie cannot grant. It’s still on my bucket list to find one, which I fear would only be possible through divine intervention, But, I cannot wish for... 


Brexit – it has started

30th June 2017

It is a balmy Monday evening in London. Oh, how I wish it was. It is, in fact, a blistering hot evening. For London, that is. It is 22:30. The sun has set an hour earlier and the temperature is 24... 


You must be choking all over again

23rd June 2017

It is a balmy London Sunday afternoon. It is June 11. It is Groundhog Day. Well, for me it is. Just a few hours ago, an unwelcome event recurred. You might even say that it was “It's deja vu all... 


Are South African companies dying or perishing?

16th June 2017

This is a simple enough question, but is the answer as simple? Well, that depends on the distinction you make between dying and perishing. According to the Oxford Dictionary perishing is defined as... 


Uber, chumocracy and a corrupt culture of entitlement

9th June 2017

Is this an apt summation of present-day South Africa? Quite possibly so. But the headline of this column was appropriated from a British newspaper published in the days prior to David Cameron’s... 


Braaivleis, rugby, sunny skies, but no Chevrolet

2nd June 2017

“South Africa, what is your favourite meal? Braaivleis! Sport? Rugby! Weather? Sunshine! And what’s your greatest car, South Africa? Chevrolet. Let’s see: it’s braaivleis, rugby, sunny skies and... 


Preferred-trader numbers all very confusing

26th May 2017

On May 8, the South African Revenue Service (Sars) announced that, on that day, it would officially launch its Customs Preferred Trader Programme, which, it said, marked the culmination of an... 


The haves, the have-nots and the wants

19th May 2017

The first words of wisdom – which I clearly recall – that my father imparted to me as a youngster were these: "There are three sides to every story – your side, my side and the truth. And no one is... 


Wealth taxation in the spotlight

12th May 2017

Have you read it yet? All 700-page, that is. Well, if you have not, acquired a copy, for the book is multipurpose. It has, for instance, been described as “a doorstop in punishing, heavy... 


SA world’s 53rd most competitive travel and tourism destination

5th May 2017

South Africa is the fifty-third most competitive travel and tourism destination in the world, according to the World Economic Forum's (WEF's) 'Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017',... 


Statistically, nothing is ever quite what it seems

28th April 2017

‘It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It is what you know for sure that just ain’t so.’, this according to Mark Twain. Love it or hate it, you simply cannot deny that... 


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