It’s a
dreadful shock to realise that one’s country has become another place where the
leader’s sole concern is his personal enrichment. All those aspirations which
many of us truly have for a land of equality of opportunity and a surplus that
can be used to support the indigent, don’t even cross Number One’s mind as he
ignores wisdom, convention and decency and seeks affirmation and support from a
growing circle of thugs and sycophants. Last night’s reshuffle has
significantly reduced the education, skill and experience levels of the Cabinet
and introduced even more known fraudsters and incompetents. Pravin Gordhan’s
axing will surprise no one, as its widely thought that it was he alone who
stood in the way of JZ’s looting of the fiscus and the banking needs of the
president’s dubious foreign-born allies
Zuma
supporters will be delighted with the developments because they have been told
it will substantially improve access to the two benefits that were supposed to
accrue from their long-promised freedom. Namely, land and wealth. As we have
pointed out numerous times there is nothing in the Treasury vaults but moths and
a huge ledger of money owed. And much of that cash to be repaid is owed to the
savers and pensioners of this country – only a few of whom might be called
monopoly capitalists. Just what the new compliant Minister of Finance is
expected to do for the expectant millions is a mystery. Any expenditure he
redirects from its budgeted destination will trigger howls of anguish. But Zuma
has shown he will not hear them. Note the new Public Protector’s complaint that
she can’t possibly be expected to do what her predecessor managed unless her
allocation from Treasury is increased fivefold. The land question is equally
unclear with not only the Constitution but also the existing ownership records revealing
inconvenient realities.
The good(ish)
news is that the rand’s “collapse” following the latest clowning episode has so
far been gentler that the screaming headlines and forecasters would suggest. Indeed,
it is still stronger than it was at the end of last year. Clearly there are
steady buyers of our currency who use these panic-induced dips as buying opportunities.
It would be nice to know who they are and why are they doing it.
Meanwhile all
the usual shenanigans of a state with far too much interest in and power over the
rest of us, continue. The SABC, which by its own admission is scaring off
audiences and advertisers was handed a new board of directors. But then another key-board thumper insisted
that they all be “vetted” which sounds like a painful process. Mind you if it
resulted in a team of people interested and competent in broadcasting that
would be a good thing.
April Fool’s
Day is very close so maybe one needs to treat with care the story that “The Red
Tape Impact Assessment Bill” is a real thing. The compilers of that piece of legislation
are obviously not students of irony. Even weirder is that big business is complaining
that the Act is too biased in favour of small business. Surely the path to be
followed here is to prune and cull all those existing Acts that tell businesses
and people of every size and kind how to do things. In similar vein is the
peevish observation by Oxfam that the Big Banks are still using tax havens. The
implication is that if they didn’t, more tax would be paid to governments who
would spend that money better than the shareholders and staff of those banks
would. This is a totally unproven hypothesis which people are increasingly
rejecting. The Brexit and Trump votes were cast by people rejecting extra
layers of bureaucracy and know-what’s-best politicians.
New Zealand
cricket fans must understand that our delight at seeing the rain falling was
just that it’s not something we see much of here and had nothing to do with the
1-0 Test Series victory. We also haven’t seen many Ferrari GP wins so there was
more delight there from the antipodes. I shall not bring up The Lions vs Sharks
pairing at Ellis Park at the bowling club bar this evening in case it rouses
passions, however I shall put my oar in (as it were) for a Cambridge victory in
Sunday’s Boat Race. One of televised sport’s great pleasures is to introduce a
newcomer to this amazing test of fitness and stamina that takes place under
grey skies and on a brown river. It’s very hard to answer their inevitable
question: “Why?”
James
Greener
Friday 31st
March 2017
