Harping on old news aims to throw us off the scent

On Wednesday I attended the launch of Business Day TV at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton.

The business channel, formerly Summit TV, is teaming up with Bloomberg TV as part of a broader overhaul by the new owners of Times Media. I have been connected with the channel for more than two decades. I'm not as enthusiastic about the new association as the owners.

Gauging by the number of people who stop me in malls and airport lounges and at social gatherings, it's apparent the channel has built a large and loyal viewership, testimony to the quality of its content and their partiality to its easy style.

I thoroughly enjoy my regular weekly appearances and have no intention of terminating my long-time relationship. But, while the new setup may grab loyal Summit followers, it's not going to work that well for me and, I assume, other Bloomberg devotees.

In business and finance, it's critical to keep in touch with international news. But instead of tracking the goings-on in major markets like London and New York on Bloomberg TV in the afternoon, we'll be fed local market programming from the previous evening. Instead of watching Ben Bernanke address Congress or Charlie Rose interview US President Barack Obama in the evenings we'll have to be content with Business Day TV's Stock Watch and Focus on Small Caps.

The good news is that it didn't take long to come up with Plan B. Bloomberg TV is available as a free iPad app, but even better is Tunein Radio, another free app that allows you to stream Bloomberg Radio and virtually every music, news and business station in the world.

Apart from an abortive struggle to order scrambled eggs without bacon, the Hilton breakfast was to bring further disappointment.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan was guest speaker. He, together with a panel of leading business figures , promised to discuss remedies for South Africa's ailing economy, according to the invitation.

When Gordhan asked the audience to rise and spend a few moments in silence meditating on the cruel and unjust legacy of The Natives Land Act, promulgated 100 years ago to the day, it was clear in which direction the discourse would go. He then detailed how apartheid brutally scarred our society and said the consequences of this biased legislation would still be felt for years to come.

Not for a minute was anyone in the audience insensitive to South Africa's regrettable history and the pain and suffering it brought. However, the main purpose of the breakfast was to debate an economic course forward - one that would elevate competitiveness, boost mining and manufacturing and tackle the turmoil in the labour market.

We also hoped the minister and panel would touch on corruption, greed and incompetence in government, none of which could be linked back to apartheid.

Gordhan went on to attack the press for attributing the rand's plunge to President Jacob Zuma's recent media conference, believing the real cause was global anxiety over the US Federal Reserve's timetable for scaling back its economic stimulus programme.

While the Fed's agenda has certainly sparked an unwinding of the carry trade, there are factors that have contributed to our currency's weakness that the minister patently disregarded.

It started with the shootings at Marikana and the government's ineffective response to the incident. Add our deteriorating economic outlook, sagging business confidence and credit rating downgrade, which have also intensified investor concerns.

And nor can we ignore growing disappointment with the developing world's failure to live up to its promise, the unrest in Brazil the latest in setbacks. Sadly, the panel had little fresh to add to the dialogue.