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We kick off our fifth season by unpacking the impact of global politics on our local economy– financially, practically, and emotionally…
28 February 2025
Traversing Trumponomics - Time for the Taxing Truth
A humanitarian disaster at a mine in the North-West town of Stilfontein, a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States… these are just some of the news items that dominated headlines as South Africans slowly returned to work in January.
In the wake of Donald Trump’s inauguration, South Africans have ‘literally’ been losing sleep as Trump signed one Executive Order after another, some spelling ‘grave’ consequences for South Africa.
South Africans – as both taxpayers and an emerging economy, find themselves caught between a shifting current reality and an unpredictable future. This has created a level of insecurity where people are making fear-based decisions, or even worse, making no decisions at all.
We kick off our fifth season by unpacking the impact of global politics on our local economy– financially, practically, and emotionally – as well as discussing whether or not our fragile and fledgling ‘Government of National Unity” (GNU) has the capacity to not only face these challenges, but to withstand them, allowing South Africans to feel stable and able to thrive.
These are intimidating questions – but they need to be asked – because it’s important to be aware of what sort of future it implies – not only for you and your clients - but ultimately for the economy for the next generation.
Now I’m sure at some stage or another, we’ve all heard Benjamin Franklin’s famous words:
“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
But it is also said that: “A fine is a tax for doing something wrong".
By that logic, I propose that tax must surely then be a fine for doing something right. I know. It’s confusing. Sometimes overwhelming. But keeping it local – SONA had come and had gone. And the annual budget presentation to parliament was postponed.
But both these moments feel almost insignificant this time round. Are they? Or did its importance simply drown in Trump noise?
It was American author, Mark Twain that wisely said:
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes”.
With this in mind, it’s important for us to analyse exactly who and what the forces are behind ‘Trumpononmics’ – and if there are indeed any historical precedents that speak to that.
Sanisha Packirisamy, Chief Economist at Momentum Investments, is back to help us make sense of the status quo against the background of the previous discussions.
So… as we contemplate our recent cosmic planetary parade, The GNU and the future – one or two questions linger:
Could the stars indeed align for our prosperity in 2025? And will Ramaphosa and our leaders deliver a ‘sweetener’ for South Africa amidst, as Shakespeare said in Macbeth:
“A tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”?