Backs to the wall in Pretoria. (South Africa’s financial crisis)

BACKS TO THE WALL IN PRETORIA

With their backs to the wall, South Africa’s debt negotiators now find creditor banks inflexible. The result may be another moratorium next April.

When American banks abruptly choked off loans to South Africa 18 months ago, plunging Pretoria into the worst financial crisis in its history, finance ministry and central bank officials hurriedly launched a campaign to avoid being lumped into the same category as debt-ridden Third World nations.

Shaken by the speed with which European banks moved to follow the lead of Chase Manhattan, and stung by the damage to his reputation, Reserve Bank governor Gerhard de Kock denied that South Africa was overborrowed.