Turnaround

A YEAR ago, South Africans watched in despair as their economy appeared to crumble. Output in both the mining and manufacturing sectors was shrinking. The currency, the rand, plunged 6% against the dollar in just one day in February. Foreign capital began to flee. Foreign currency reserves, already minuscule, were nearly depleted. Thanks chiefly to the rand's collapse--it lost 22% against the dollar by the year end--the Johannesburg stockmarket in 1996 was among the four worst-performing emerging-country markets in the world.