At this moment, in my pocket, there rests my expired car licence disk, and the almost R700 it will cost to renew. Because I work a long way from my home municipality, I generally use the post office to renew licences. Except the
SA Post Office is currently on strike. I am led to believe that this industrial action is due to disagreements between management and a few hundred casual workers. The few hundred are holding 7,000+ permanent employees, and millions of ordinary South Africans, to ransom.
And it got me thinking about all the aspects of our existence that have been ruined by Zuma and his useless mates. Here then, my quick pre-tea list. I'm sure I could make it even longer, if I applied my mind to it.
Rand Water and the Municipalities - honestly, I do not believe there was cable theft that affected the pumping at Palmiet station. Perhaps the affected party could provide a police case number? I believe that other than a short power interruption to Eikenhof, the bulk of the water crisis was caused only by malfunctions and lousy systems that failed, predictably so. Anyways, most water is reticulated by gravity. The fact that the ANC even managed to fuck up gravity, speaks volumes.
SABC - the COO is an acknowledged fraud, the chair of the board cooked her qualifications (and paid herself a million bucks to attend 30 meetings), and the country's most popular (apparently) show, is on sabbatical. The SABC is a lame horse that should be shot and turned into glue.
Eskom - the new CEO is a deployed cadre, neither an engineer nor a businessman. Medupi, Kusile and Braamhoek are years late and brazillians over budget. The organisation itself is bankrupt, in spite of increases many multiples the inflation rate. There are 44,000 members of staff today, compared with 30,000 in the lean and mean years. And the new guys are not doing the work. They're standing around with their clipboards, supervising contractors.
SAA - in Feburary 2013, I wrote what I hoped was a scathing article about SAA, and their tenth restructuring. Clearly that hasn't worked either, because they've just asked government for another bailout. That's why I refuse to fly ANC Air (SAA / Mango), and choose the green planes instead.
The Energy Department - bust, trying to pull a fast one by signing an agreement with Russia, committing us to a trillion rand's worth of nuclear plants, without a competitive enquiry that should've included the French and the Americans. Not that we'd expect anything less from the rapist's concubine, the abhorrent Tina Joe-ma-se Petterson.
DIRCO - two things; first, not granting the Dalai Lama a visa for the n-th time, to keep the Chinese happy. Second, being utterly useless at bringing home the remains of South Africans killed in the Lagos tragedy. Yet if we introduce any sort of measure that has an impact on the Nigies, most of whom are shifty ne'er-do-wells, the howls of outrage are deafening. We have no backbone, we're the pushovers of the continent.
SANRAL (aka SCAMRAL and SANFAIL) - uptake of e-tags is non-existent, revenues are barely 40% of projected. And yet this bombastic organisation is pressing ahead with plans to toll existing roads in Cape Town. Note how they even stated that there would not be electronic tolling, but conventional plazas - they know that e-tolling does not work.
SA Police - the majority of South Africans are afraid of the police. I know I am. I have taught my children, in the event of an emergency, turn to a trusted adult, not a policeman. When they lean into my car to tell me how cold or hungry they are, I now tell them they are being voice recorded on my phone. Our cops have become dominated by trigger-happy thugs and fat wastrels. Candidates for senior posts have to be withdrawn, because they themselves are facing charges, and the national commissioner tips off her mates who are about to be investigated. And just when we think Jacob might set up an inquiry, he does an about-face. Riah Phiyega is protected game.
Chapter 9 Institutions - the writers of our constitution intended that we should have such bodies, to oversea various aspects of life in our country. Specifically, the Public Protector's remit is to investigate any aspect of the state's operations, and make findings and remedial action items as s/he sees fit. The check and balance is that any person who feels aggrieved by the PP's findings, may take the matter to the High Court. As such, the PP is essentially subordinate only to the Constitutional Court.
Except the Fat Zulu has decided that the PP must be answerable to parliament, where his prime minister and acolytes (MPs) can do his bidding, and squash her reports. That is certainly not what the constitution intended, and as a result, we essentially have a constitutional crisis. Except the dumb bellends in the ANC will say it's not a crisis, it's a series of challenges. God, I hate that word.
Sitting back, I am hard pressed to come up with any examples of good things to report on. Even sport, long the harbinger of the National Good Mood, is about to be ruined by the All Blacks, and Fikile "Useless" Mbalula is promising some soccer players money.
Oh well, bring on Friday, surely the ANC cannot ruin that?