YOUR PHONE SAYS “NO”

Despite the tax income in July being a meagre R80bn, our National Treasury wonks must be well pleased with a rolling 12-month income of R1.4 trillion. This is a record, and the new minister of finance must have been tempted to order lemonade and sticky buns all round. But perhaps he called for just a half-holiday instead so that no outsider watching would notice the celebration. However, his colleagues in cabinet must have had spies planted because the allocation to the spenders in government was also a record at 1.87trillion. Which resulted in a 12-month deficit of R470billion. Which means that 34% of the money our government spends, is borrowed. This is not good and it will take a lot more than the boomlet we are enjoying in commodity prices to smooth this out. The mining companies know a thing or two about saving for a rainy day and hiding profits in plain sight. The faux lament that “my whole life is on my phone” is no longer a subtle boast of just how tech savvy one is. It’s becoming real. News is that our leaders are about to introduce the so-called Vaccination Certificate Passports which will reside on our smart phones. Tidemarks notes that the combination of the poorly understood pandemic, rapidly growing technological capabilities and throngs of largely clueless politicians and their advisors are turning out to be a toxic mix from which a large and nasty ogre of control is emerging. Governments are behaving badly and are mostly delighted with these developments. But for the rest of us they should ring a huge alarm bell. One quick scan of your phone will provide all the information needed for untrustworthy bureaucrats to deny you access to pretty much anything from a library book to critical care in a hospital. Already Health minister Joe Phaahla has been telling National Council of Provinces that the government was considering banning non-vaccinated people from public amenities. No one could have ever imagined that a state president would end up getting health advice from his equally useless financial adviser. And yet that is what Jacob Zuma has done – although as yet he does not appear to be taking up golf like his mentor Schabir Schaik did after gaining a Medical Parole and being released from prison. Naturally there are many questions that scholars of the law and curious simple taxpayers would like to have answered. Firstly, what exactly ails our jovial dancing ex-president? Advocate Dali Mpofu (SC) who represents JZ has told Judge Piet Koen that Zuma’s medical team and that of the State were “finding each other” and “getting close to each other”. This is picturesque language but since the state’s doctors have not yet been able “to get close to Zuma” facts remain scarce. The key point, in case you’ve not been listening, is that Zuma has a very long-standing court appearance in his diary concerning the usual problem of money flowing in unusual directions. He has little desire to be there. This week the details of a minibus taxi crash that injured its 22 passengers (all school children) emerged. The vehicle was overloaded, unlicensed, and unroadworthy, and the driver did not have a licence! In a textbook example of the pressing need for competency tests for public officials before they are allowed to say something, the Transport MEC for the area reportedly warned that it is “up to users to check (that) the vehicle they hire is safe, competent and licensed”. No mention of this being the job of the authorities who are woefully failing in their traffic control duties. Ironically this week another glaringly badly managed, queue-bound, expensive failure of traffic control appeared. The inordinately lengthy and inefficient process of renewing a driver’s licence may soon be managed(?) by a booking system for an appointment requiring another R250 fee payment. So, one queues and pays to book a place in another queue to pay? No really! Currie Cup final and the next round of the Rugby Championship (have you noted that the All Blacks will be playing the curtain raiser to the bok game?) US Open Tennis finals and the third in a series of back-to-back F1 GPs. Oh, and Premier League resumes and Bafana Bafana are winning. I really must repair the captain’s armchair. James Greener Friday 10th September 2021