Tighten your belt

South Africans must brace for harder times aheadDURING his annual state-of-the-nation speech earlier this month, President Thabo Mbeki acknowledged that many South Africans feel glum. Besides political uncertainty & some high-level corruption cases, people are now worrying about the economy. The Chamber of Commerce & Industry's latest survey shows that business confidence has slumped to levels last seen in 2003. Another poll near the end of last year, by Ipsos Markinor, revealed that just under half of South Africans thought the government was managing the economy well, a drop of 17 percentage points in a year. Last month's power cuts have also dented confidence. Virtually all analysts reckon that the economy, after growing by an average of 5% or so in the past four years, will slow down this year. The government has announced that occasional blackouts will be necessary until July, when a plan that includes rationing & incentives to use less electricity kicks in. Blackouts forced mines to stop operating for a few days last month & have also hit manufacturing hard. But St&ard Bank, one of the largest financial institutions, notes that sectors that do most to spur growth--services, wholesale & retail trade & construction--depend less on electricity than do manufacturing & mining. ...