LEAVE BEFORE ABSENCE?

The price of electricity rose by more than 15% this morning. This increase will undoubtedly soon ripple through the economy with awful effect. Just ask the 600 people who were axed at SABC. The reluctance of the relevant minister to meet with private industry to explain the logic behind the 4-day mini-ban of liquor sales shows that its not just we boozers who are puzzled. A sales ban of this duration is surely utterly ineffective in limiting the kind of gatherings that are suspected to cause increases in the rate of infection by the dreaded virus. One suspects that it is merely a shameless display by government of how a year of practice in exercising emergency powers will not go to waste. Car accidents always peak over the Easter weekend so rather than bluff again that traffic authorities will work around the clock, just use the lockdown laws. And anyway someone has discovered a loophole in the speed trapping legislation! The pictures of increasingly puny machines trying to shift a massive ship wedged tightly between the banks of the Suez Canal were undeniably funny but somehow the behemoth was prised free far quicker than forecast and those who had taken bets on sharp corrections in the prices of various commodities had to scamper for cover. And talking of bets, way back in 2018, Free Market Foundation president Leon Louw bet the then SAA CEO, Vuyani Jarana, that his three-year turnaround plan for the airline would not work. Louw was right and this week Jarana has had to pony up R100 000. Easy money. Meanwhile we have yet another conundrum from minister JDZ who is confident that renaming places helps to increase the speed of service delivery of government service to citizens. Not much is offered in the way of evidence to support this conjecture beyond a vague claim that civil servants whose employer’s name incorporates the magical and iconic name of Winnie Mandela will be spurred to work harder and smarter. The best comment so far to this idea came from a parent who plans to rename his children to see if it goads them into doing their homework. Does one need to have the brain and thought processes of a politician to understand the 30-day firing process that President Cyril is employing to trim the numbers in his party. Is it a compassion thing, allowing the soon to be unemployed person to dash around the office pocketing everything not nailed down and to schmooze the payroll offices to change their name and keep them aboard the gravy trail? Or is it to allow them time to assemble sufficient alibis to demonstrate that “I was not there. It was not me.”? I am not alone in being unable to grasp the workings of Bitcoin. I’m certainly keen to have assets that the taxman and other nosy commission scroungers can’t find out about but the big problem for me is it still needs to be bench marked against conventional currencies (or even gold) and it seems to be heart-stoppingly volatile. But a local website quotes its Rand price to 10 significant figures. Really? Yesterday Moody’s, the Credit Ratings Agency, ceased issuing its opinions on whether the SA Land Bank was a worthwhile outfit to lend money to. As usual the reports of these events is a tad confused because in fact the organisation being rated usually pays the agency for the rating and if that organisation stops paying its subscription, then the rating reports cease. Indeed, Landbank have already intimated that they have terminated the agency’s services. Nevertheless, it is a sure bet that the Landbank loan book is rat infested and stuffed with loans which will never be repaid, whatever reasons Moody’s offer. Transport Minister Fikile Mabalula chose April Fool’s Day to upgrade his long running plan for streamlining the taxi industry. The plan involves using public money to bribe a notoriously lawless and outright hazardous industry to accept a raft of regulation. It does shift astonishing numbers of people amazing distances and Mabalula admitted that the railways are now largely inoperable. Governments, however, are usually lethal when it comes to interfering in markets. The Light Blues for the Boat Race please. James Greener April Fool’s Day 2021