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<\/a><\/p>\nFrom technology to telecommunications, retailers, consumer goods, agriculture, education and financial services, South African companies are battling with crippling unemployment levels, plummeting business confidence, instances of corporate malfeasance and a lifeless economy that expanded just 0.8% last year.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s not just about economic indicators. The property firms? There\u2019s deep uncertainty about land rights in South Africa as President Cyril Ramaphosa moves toward changing the law to clarify when the state can expropriate land without compensation.<\/p>\n
For construction companies? Years of mismanagement, corruption and under-spending on state infrastructure have left builders without enough things to build. In the background, of course, there are consumers who are shopping less and straining under increased taxes.<\/p>\n
South Africa\u2019s economy is forecast to expand 1.7% this year, according to the central bank and National Treasury, but that figure was produced before higher-than-estimated tariff increases were announced for cash-strapped power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd.<\/p>\n
One ray of hope is the soaring palladium price. That\u2019s caused the shares of companies such as Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., Lonmin Plc and Anglo American Platinum Ltd. to outperform most stocks on the 165-member FTSE\/JSE Africa All Share Index this year.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s just a shame that the mining industry in South Africa, once the world\u2019s biggest gold producer, makes up less than 10% of the country\u2019s gross domestic product these days.<\/p>\n
While the mining counters have helped the Johannesburg bourse climb more than 5% this year, that\u2019s less than the gains by exchanges from New York to London, Tokyo and Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s an adage in Afrikaans, one of South Africa\u2019s languages, that says \u201clocal is lekker,\u201d meaning home is great, but so far this year, local isn\u2019t very lekker at all.<\/p>\n
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