The announcement of the first case of Covid-19 in early March, and the consequences that followed, may have come as a surprise to those businesses not dealing in export markets.

South Africa was recently rocked by another gruesome farm murder, this time the horrific killing of 21-year-old farm manager Brendin Horner.

According to Milton Friedman, one of the great economists of the 20th century, “One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results”.

Three Dutch members of parliament reiterated their concerns about farm attacks and the ANC government’s planned expropriation without compensation in a series of questions put to the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stef Blok.

The social and economic crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated South Africa’s fiscal crisis. But the origins of the fiscal crisis are deeper. It is a structural crisis that will define public policy over the years ahead.

A lack of clear land ownership rights for farmers is hampering efforts to open up the region to the wider market.