Late last week, Fitch downgraded the outlook on SA's rating to negative, and, since Monday, the bad news has just kept on coming, driving this optimist to pessimism. Unemployment is at its worst level in more than a decade, Eskom shows no signs of a recovery as losses continue to mount and plans by the government to rectify the situation seem to have stalled before they began. Corporate SA offers no hope, either, with one of SA's oldest companies, according to the court, flouting procedure so it could fire its CEO, while other companies continue to count the costs of offshore misadventures - all showing that leadership in the private sector is also wanting...