AFRICAN UNION & BRICS+; Optimistic SA – Chinese Ethics – ZIM ZiG Fails – Human History in SA – More on ZiG – Depopulation? – SA Inflation Falls – SA is Special - Letter from South Africa - [10-12-24]

The quotes of Ancient Chinese philosophers offer timeless wisdom for navigating the complexities of modern life. Read on for some Eastern wisdom

BRAZIL, RUSSIA, INDIA, CHINA AND SOUTH AFRICA - (BRICS+) SUMMIT WILL BE HELD IN OCTOBER.  There are yearnings among growing numbers of people for different sources of news and political analyses in the Global South. In addition, even within the industrial capitalist states of Western Europe, the UK, and North America more people are turning towards progressive news outlets which encompass a critical outlook towards the corporate and government-controlled Western media.

BRICS, which began with four countries, has now expanded to ten. Dozens of others are interested in joining the economic alliance.  A post on the BRICS Plus website for the upcoming October 22-24 in the Russian southwest city of Kazan outlines the objectives of the Russian Federation for the summit:

BRICS is attracting an ever-increasing number of supporters and like-minded countries that share its underlying principles, namely: sovereign equality, respect for the chosen path of development, mutual consideration of interests, openness, consensus, the aspiration to form a multipolar international order and a fair global financial and trade system, and pursuit of collective solutions to top challenges of our time.

The Russian 2024 BRICS Chairmanship under the motto ‘Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security’ will act precisely in this manner and focus on positive and constructive cooperation with all countries concerned.  This formation has fuelled the political insecurity of the imperialist Western states. BRICS countries have a combined population of 3.25 billion people, which is about 46% of the world’s population.

Economically the BRICS+ countries represent more than a third of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). They account for 25% of global trade.  In regard to energy production, the BRICS+ states contain 40% of the crude oil production and exports. The land mass of the BRICS+ countries encompasses approximately 30% of the world’s surface.

This upcoming BRICS+ Summit comes on the heels of the successful convening of the ‘Forum on China-Africa Cooperation’ (FOCAC) in Beijing in early September. FOCAC was formed in 2000 and has brought about greater economic and political collaboration between African Union (AU) member-states and the People’s Republic of China.

Successive U.S. administrations, whether Republican or Democrat, have attempted to castigate China saying its involvement in Africa represents another form of colonialism. However, China was not a participant in the Atlantic Slave Trade or the imperialist onslaught towards the continent between the 15th and 19th centuries.

China itself, like India, was a victim of British imperialism and even today its territory is divided by the US and NATO efforts to use Taiwan as a territorial base for the weakening of the mainland.  Initiatives by Washington and Wall Street are designed to perpetuate imperialism. Yet, the failure of the US and other leading capitalist states to win outright victories in their wars of conquest and exploitation is a clear indication of the shifting power dynamics on a global scale.

In order for the AU member-states to reach their full political and economic objectives of genuine independence, sovereignty, unification and economic development, there must be greater coordination within the continent. Several years ago, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was formed to work towards the aims of the inaugural founders of the Organization of African Unity (OAU).

Under the administration of President George W. Bush, Jr., the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) was established and later strengthened and enhanced by his successor President Barack Obama. Since 2011 there has been the destruction of Libya and the spreading of instability throughout the West and North African sub-regions of the continent.

Fortunately, anti-imperialist sentiments are growing, particularly in the Sahel states within West Africa, where Pan-African ideology has gained political currency through the expulsion of French and US military forces and the exposure of neo-colonialism, which is facilitated through AFRICOM, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and other western-based financial institutions.

Therefore, a renewed transformation is necessary within the AU where a formal break with the western imperialist states would be indispensable. Eventually the decline of imperialism will pave the way towards a Capitalist/Socialist model described by BOOM last month.  However, this will not come about without the intensification of the class struggle and the overthrow of the current unequal balance of economic power characterising the relations between the international bourgeoisie and the vast majority of working and oppressed peoples.  Source

• BRICS+ October Summit, Beijing Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and the Battle for the Global South https://www.globalresearch.ca/brics-plus-focac-battle-global-south/5868174

SOUTH AFRICA’S CEOs ON WHY THEY ARE OPTIMISTIC

Sentiment around South Africa has improved since the coalition government was formed and Eskom’s blackouts finally faded. However, CEOs warn that positive sentiment should not breed complacency, and a lot must still be done to fix the economy.

As the collective West declines, the Hegemon and their lackeys have fixed their gaze on Africa because, as the second largest continent on earth, it has abundant untapped resources and massive opportunities for the mega-corporations to profit and exploit what they consider to be a hopeless basket case of economic stagnation.

Well, they have a second thought coming soon because, as the BRICS+ expands led by Russia this year, the conference of the Global South members later this month will demonstrate the exclusion of Western imperialists and their nefarious plans for global conquest will be thwarted.

South Africa is deeply enmeshed in the BRICS+ plans for the 21^st century and there is an unusual wave of optimism about South Africa within the key corporations and wealth-creators.  CEOs of multinational companies are overwhelmingly positive about South Africa, its prospects, and its reform agenda since the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU). This hopefulness has also been seen in financial markets.

This week, prominent CEOs lifted their South African economic growth and job creation expectations, saying that the economy should grow by 3% in 2025, which could create at least one million jobs by 2030 and make a dent in the unemployment crisis.

Apart from 2021 when Covid-19 lockdowns eased, the economy opened, and public life returned, the last time the country’s economy expanded by more than 2% was in 2013. The economy grew by 1.9% in 2022 and 0.7% in 2023, and is expected to average about 1% in 2024. This slow growth underscores that the economy is still suffering in many areas, even though sentiment among CEOs has improved.

The big question is whether the optimism among CEOs is all smoke and mirrors or whether it is informed by evidence that South Africa’s fortunes are finally turning around.  Standard Bank CEO, Sim Tshabalala believes there is evidence of real reform as seen in the fading of the energy crisis (no Eskom blackouts for six months) and the formation of a GNU, which has committed to the continuity of business-friendly policies and respect for the Constitution.

The GNU has also committed to holding the line on government expenditure and hitting its fiscal targets, the progress or regression of which will be unveiled by the National Treasury in the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement on October 30.  Discovery CEO Adrian Gore, who believes that South Africa is in a “completely different place than a year ago” when stage 6 Eskom blackouts were the norm and Transnet’s port and railway operations hobbled along without a plan to fix them (though progress is still slow).

“There is a feeling that we can turn this flywheel of growth-jobs sentiment. The narrative around South Africa is much better now. If we can capitalise on it, the potential is massive,” said Gore, who is often described as “Mr Positive”.  Sasol CEO Simon Baloyi supported Gore’s views, saying investor perceptions of South Africa were changing.  Captains of industry have pledged to mobilise more money and deploy their expertise to fix Eskom and Transnet, and help halt South Africa’s crime and corruption crises.

STOP PRESS – WHY CHINA DOESN’T “SANCTION” THE US, although it does have this option. China has many more leverage points to “sanction” the US than vice versa.

Chinese ethics are way above applying illegal retaliations, unlike the Western proclivity for sanctions. Sanctioning is interfering with other countries’ economic and political sovereignty; it is economic warfare which is not allowed by any measure of international law.  China’s ethics and long-term thinking are linked to an over 5000-years-old Tao principle. See this philosophical concept: “Tao 68”, called “Unite with Heaven”:

• A good General doesn’t like aggression

• A good warrior doesn’t know hate

• If you want to conquer your enemy, don’t confront him.

• Put yourself below him

• This is called the power of not-fighting

• This is using the ability of mankind

• This is called since ancient times, to be in harmony with heaven

• And it is the greatest power there is.

The West does not understand the Eastern mindset and could take a lesson or two from their philosophy when the world would be a better place, a more harmonious place, a place where Peace Talks should be possible to resolve conflicts and wars; a place where, instead of dividing to conquer, togetherness with individual sovereignty would prosper, leading to a world of common benefits for all.  Lao Tzu Knew About Life That The West Forgot:

China has multiple times offered good diplomatic offices to mediate Peace Talks between Russia and Ukraine. The West has rejected such offers. The West has rejected an almost signed Peace Agreement sponsored by Turkey in 2022. The West does not want Peace.  War is the economic survival paradigm for the Collective West, the United States and all NATO countries, and especially UK. Economics based on killing will fail. A Western collapse must be the final result. Source

• Those who know some basics about Russia/China relations, understand US sanctions are not doing anything effective. As to punishing Chinese banks for receiving payment from Russia in Yuan, that isn’t working either. Chinese banks are largely immune against US attempted “sanctions”, simply because the US needs them for trading with China  https://www.globalresearch.ca/washington-sanctioning-russia-china-enhanced-monetary-independence/5868178

NEWS FLASH – Cathy Buckle: Zimbabwe’s currency crashes this week, millions are left 44% poorer overnight. [See also below for details of the ZIG]

[Note: if a country allows circulation of an alternative currency, like the US dollar, alongside its own, like the ZiG, hyperinflation is almost inevitable.]

Imagine going to bed with 100 Zim dollars in your wallet and waking up the next morning to find that it’s only worth 56 Zim dollars. This is what happened to the Zimbabwe Dollar, officially called the ZiG, a few days ago. Suddenly you can only buy half the food you were going to buy, half the medicine, pay half the bus fare, half the rent, half the bills.

Imagine if you were supposed to go the doctor today, or the dentist or pay the school fees, what do you do, who do you turn to?  Imagine if you own a small business and were accepting payment in Zig’s at the official exchange rate, as was insisted by government; today you are broke, you will not be able to restock your shelves, all your goods are worth 44% less than yesterday.

And if you put your prices up by 44% today you will watch people like me, walk in, look at your prices and walk out again because we can’t afford them. We have been down exactly this same road before at the hands of this same ruling party. People will panic buy, shelves will empty, doors will close.

On the flip side of the coin well connected people have doubled their money overnight. Those who were able to source US dollars from the bank at the rate of 14 ZiGs to one US dollar, doubled their money when the rate changed to 25 ZiGs to one. Source

• The irony of this official 44% devaluation of Zimbabwe’s local currency, launched just five months ago, is that it is the very people who are employed by the government of Zimbabwe who are the biggest losers.  On Thursday they received their government salaries in ZiGs and on Friday that same government devalued the currency  https://www.biznews.com/africa/2024/10/04/zimbabwe-currency-crashes-cathy-buckle

FUN TIDBIT

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK –  Can South African Archaeogenetic Research Offer Clues to Human History?

A study was published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.: "Oakhurst rock shelter is an ideal site to study human history, as it contained more than 40 human graves and preserved layers of human artifacts, such as stone tools, going back 12,000 years," says Victoria Gibbon, Professor of Biological Anthropology at the University of Cape Town and co-senior author of the study.

"Sites like this are rare in South Africa, and Oakhurst has allowed a better understanding of local population movements and relationships across the landscape over nearly 9,000 years."  The ancient genomes represent a time series from 10,000 to 1,300 years ago, providing a unique opportunity to study human migrations through time and the relationship to the diverse groups of people living in the region today.

This only changed around 1,200 years ago, when newcomers arrived and introduced pastoralism, agriculture and new languages to the region and began interacting with local hunter-gatherer groups.

In one of the most culturally, linguistically and genetically diverse regions of the world, the new study shows that South Africa's rich archaeological record is becoming increasingly accessible to archaeogenetics, providing new insights into human history and past demography. Source

• A key finding was that the oldest genomes from the Oakhurst rock shelter are genetically quite similar to San and Khoekhoe groups living in the same region today. This came as a surprise, as Joscha Gretzinger, lead author of the study, says, "Similar studies from Europe have revealed a history of large-scale genetic changes due to human movements over the last 10,000 years”  https://phys.org/news/2024-09-year-human-dna-insights-south.html

BREAKING SOUTH AFRICAN NEWS: ZIMBABWE’S LATEST SHOT AT A STABLE CURRENCY:  The gold-backed ZiG.

Zimbabwe’s introduction of the ZiG, a gold-backed currency, aimed to stabilise its economy after years of hyperinflation. Launched in April 2024, the ZiG replaced the Zimbabwean dollar, which had depreciated rapidly since its 2019 revival. Backed by $100 million in cash and 2,522 kg of gold, the ZiG aims to restore public trust. While still early, authorities were encouraging its use and have seen a reduction in dollar transactions.

In the latest effort to devise a credible national currency, Zimbabwe in April replaced its dollar with the ZiG, short for ‘Zimbabwe Gold’. The new unit is backed by bullion and foreign currency reserves held at the central bank. It’s the country’s sixth attempt at establishing its own currency since 2008, when inflation crossed 500n% according to International Monetary Fund estimates.

Not only did that render it worthless, it turned the unit into a global punchline: US Treasury secretaries would carry the notes as a reminder of the evils of hyperinflation. [Ed Note: hyperinflation will always occur as long as an alternative trusted currency, like the USD, is allowed to circulate concurrently regardless of ‘gold backed money’– which has now happened, as above]

Confident that they had finally got it right, Zimbabwe announced plans to go all-in on the ZiG and make it the southern African nation’s sole legal tender. That’s an audacious goal, given that the US dollar still accounts for the bulk of transactions in the country.

Brought back to life in 2019, after a decade-long furlough when the country ran solely on foreign currency, the Zimbabwean dollar lost ground against the US dollar every trading day this year. This wiped 80% off its value by the time newly appointed central bank Governor John Mushayavanhu put it out of its misery on April 5.

The collapse had already forced more than four-fifths of the southern African nation’s economy to transact in US dollars for everything from food to medicine, with some businesses only accepting payment in greenbacks. Few people have forgotten the experience of 2008, when their savings were wiped out by inflation, so public trust in the local unit had always been low.

Enter the ZiG.  The ZiG started trading on April 8 at an exchange rate of 13.56 to the dollar. Banks, mobile-money platforms, retailers and other intermediaries reconfigured their systems to take account of the new currency, though the process has been a bumpy one. All holders of Zimbabwe dollar accounts had their balances converted to ZiG.

The change also affected share prices on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, which rebased its 56 listed securities. In June, the International Organization for Standardization registered the unit’s code as ZWG at Zimbabwe’s request. This ensured it conformed with international standards requiring a currency code to start with the two-letter country code, in this case ZW, and to contain no lower-case letters.

Where does the currency’s value come from?  The central bank said the new currency would be fully backed by US$100 million in cash and 2,522 kilograms of gold worth $185 million. New banknotes were released on April 30, and the central bank went on a publicity drive to raise awareness of the new currency. To foster demand, Zimbabwe has made it mandatory for companies to settle at least half of their quarterly tax obligations using the new unit. Some taxes may only be paid in ZiG. 

Is it working?  It isn’t easy to restore confidence in a currency whose predecessors have failed, and it will take some time to assess whether it gains acceptance. But the authorities have been leaning on Zimbabweans to use it by ordering government services to be paid for in the unit, in addition to the tax requirement.

They have also fined traders for refusing to accept payment in ZiG. The authorities say that dollar-denominated transactions have declined to around 70% from 85% when it was introduced. In early August, the cabinet said it had adopted a “dedollarization roadmap” without providing details of when it would take effect, though President Emmerson Mnangagwa has hinted it could happen as early as 2026. Official statistics suggest that the ZiG has helped to rein in surging price pressures since its April launch, though there are only a few months’ worth of data available. 

What explains Zimbabwe’s currency chaos?  The southern African country has suffered a succession of economic crises, the near-collapse of government services, runaway inflation and widespread poverty and unemployment. Previous attempts to resuscitate a local currency have failed largely because the cash-strapped government resorted to printing money to fund the budget. Central bank boss Mushayavanhu has repeatedly promised that this mistake will not be repeated on his watch.  Sources

• Can gold-backed ZiG currency rescue Zimbabwe’s economy?: Lionel Laurent  https://www.biznews.com/africa/2024/04/09/zig-currency-zimbabwe-lionel-laurent

• Zimbabwe courts investors with gold-backed currency

• Zimbabwe aims to tame hyperinflation with ZiG currency

SURVIVAL MONITOR - DEPOPULATION IN SOUTH AFRICA?

The WEF Document Confirms six Billion Humans To Be Killed Off by 2025?  The World Economic Forum (WEF), run by psychopath Klaus Schwab and his international bankster and mega-corporation mates, has been exposed again with their plans to depopulate the world. They want six billion culled and now it has been revealed that it is not by 2030, but by next year, 2025!

But here is the good news: South Africa will be virtually unaffected:  South Africa: Current population (2017) 48,600,000.  Projected 2025: 45,945,100 (-5.5).  GDP: US$353,900. GDP 2025: US$325,718 (-8.0).  Note that the largest depopulation will occur in the West: UK, US and Europe, as designed.  Russia and China are also unaffected as is the Global South generally. Sources

• Deagal Projected de-population data  https://archive.org/details/deagel-2025-forecast-by-country/page/0/mode/1up

• If we have any hope of stopping them from achieving their goal of murdering the vast majority of humanity and turning Earth into a prison planet to enslave the rest, the information in this report must be shared far and wide https://biblescienceforum.com/2024/08/23/wef-document-confirms-6-billion-humans-to-be-killed-off-by-2025/

INFLATION  -  South Africa’s annual inflation rate eased for the third month to 4.4% in August 2024, down from 4.6% in the prior month and below the expected 4.5%. This marks the lowest inflation rate since April 2021, falling just below the South African Reserve Bank's preferred midpoint target of 4.5%

South Africa’s ongoing review of the central bank’s inflation target of 3% to 6% will be anchored in the principle of preserving price stability, said Deputy Finance Minister David Masondo. South Africa’s annual rate of inflation slowed to 4.4% in August from a post-pandemic peak of 7.8% in 2022, with economists giving the central bank credit for resisting pressure to ease high borrowing costs until prices were brought under control.

NARRATIVE BATTLE –  What makes South Africa Special?

The author admits that in his subtitle ‘A Memoir of White South Africa in an Age of Destruction;’ from the off, I recognise a fellow countryman, laying it down bare-boned. South Africans have this habit of exposing ourselves. Others find us easy to target making it easy to see, but what escapes attention is the underlying satire.

It is probably why we attracted so much angst, refusing to die, refusing to submit, not even asking for independence.  Yet we, white and black together, know what others cannot: the country’s call, its searing conflicts bind us all, embrace us all, and no matter how deep our political differences, it endures, it dominates.

It is why The Truth and Reconciliation Commission worked and why South Africa is now the first to condemn the Israeli genocide; to great applause! Redeemed by the very rich Cyril Ramaphosa, still basking in the reflected glow of Mandela. But the shunning of White South Africa creates something like chaff on the margins. It blows about, as the author puts it, that chaff accounts for the instantaneous atunement between us.  Source

• Some books demand to be reviewed, but for me, it's the ones that might slip under the radar that first need attention  

The Ink of Anguish

FINALLY – A THOUGHT

COMING NEXT:

• BOOM Weekly Global Review - Tuesday, October 15, 2024

• The Financial Jigsaw Part 2 - Chapter 6 (31) – BASIS OF AUTHORITY – Saturday, October 19, 2024

REFERENCES 

• My Book: “The Financial Jigsaw” Parts 1 & 2 Scroll:   https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358117070_THE_FINANCIAL_JIGSAW_-_PART_1_-_4th_Edition_2020   including regular updates.

• BOOM Finance and Economics Substack (Subscribe for Free) - also on LinkedIn and WordPress. Plus Covid Medical News Network CMN News  and BOOM Blog -- All Editorials (over 5 years) --  BOOM Finance and Economics | Designed for Critical Thinkers — UPDATED WEEKLY (wordpress.com)