South Africa’s slow-motion momentum towards a financial train crash has begun to speed up. Recent weeks have seen strong warning signals from the rating agencies.

"The private sector must forget about joining hands with a bankrupt government that has failed economically and unable to restore the country's infrastructure," said Fanie Brink, an independent agricultural economist.

National Treasury is reportedly proposing a host of extreme measures to get national departments and other spheres of government to cut spending as the country’s coffers have run dry.

n the outskirts of the northern Spanish city of Pamplona, a green, red and blue stream of New Holland, John Deere, Massey Ferguson, Fendt and Deutz-Fahr tractors trundled forwards, horns honking and orange lights flashing.

As the dust settles following the outcome of the May 29 elections and the seventh administration begins its term, the next step will be realigning policy ideas under the Government of National Unity. With respect to agriculture, the major political parties in the Government of National Unity, namely the African National Congress (ANC), Democratic Alliance (DA), and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), appear to be broadly aligned in our assessment.