Rational Perspective

In today's headlines: South Africans are reeling from the news that the economy shrunk in the first quarter of this year. Analysts have blamed Eskom power cuts for hammering manufacturing, mining and agricultural output. Eskom has more than $30bn in debt and is believed to be the biggest threat to the economy, according to Goldman Sachs, but it isn’t the only state-owned enterprise dragging down the South African economy. At least seven state companies are, as public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan put it in February, “either on their knees or touching carpet”. Former Rand Daily Mail editor Raymond Louw has died, shortly after his wife Jean. Louw was 91. President Cyril Ramaphosa was among the first to offer his condolences. Barloworld’s Khula Sizwe public offer closed on Tuesday after being oversubscribed. The funding target of R16m for the black economic empowerment scheme was reached, with more than 50,000 applications received The big movers on the JSE on Tuesday were Goldfields, which jumped more tha