South Africa has entered a period that could be categorised as stagflation, whereby extremely weak economic growth is combining toxically with rising inflation and extreme unemployment. The International Monetary Fund has become the latest institution to announce a downward revision, slashing its 2023 growth forecast to 0.1% from its 1.2% January projection. It came in the same week that Stats SA announced that annual consumer price inflation was 7% in February, up from 6.9% in January, as food price inflation climbed. It’s an economic see-saw from which South Africans need to be removed as soon as possible.