This may be SA’s own Black Friday

IN less than 48 hours, retailers will unleash Black Friday upon us. For both store owners and shoppers, the annual bargain hunt comes at an opportunistic time.

Shops desperately need the anticipated cash infusion, while hard-up customers, suffering equally in these tough economic climes, could do with the price relief that comes with the promise of a special deal.

Of course, it’s a completely contrived spectacle, fashioned along the lines of China’s Singles’ Day and Cyber Monday in the US.

The growth of online shopping has played no small part in helping to drive the popularity of these events, and like Halloween and Guy Fawkes, their establishment here lacks any local cultural reference point and really just piggybacks on foreign custom.

Still, say what you will, these shopping extravaganzas are major money-spinners. Singles’ Day, for instance, was predicted to amass an estimated R280-billion in revenue this year.

It’s easy to lose one’s head in the fray. Fear of missing out will do that to you, precisely what retailers want.

Prudent shoppers will dip their toes into the water, so to speak, mindful, too, of the dangers that come with buying on credit. Paying interest on a purchase will negate the benefit of a discount.

Notably, another key event is scheduled to take place late on Friday when two of the global credit ratings agencies – S&P and Moody’s – deliver their expected reviews of South Africa.

Sentiment is strong among market watchers that both organisations will downgrade our bonds to junk.

One consequence is that, ultimately, borrowings will cost more to service.

In other words, interest on debt goes up.

In time, depending how the country navigates this road to ruin, November 24 2017 may become known as Black Friday for an entirely different reason.