The KZN provincial leader has vowed that his abuse of privilege will never happen again. That’s probably true as far as having a tanker load of water delivered to his house so that his wife could cook meals for the flood victims. In all the back pedalling and apologies one thing is still unclear. Where on earth did he put all that water?
So National Treasury promised to send Durban some R2bn to help it cope with the disastrous floods. Many internet commentators are convinced that this will prove to be an irresistible sum for attention of the professional looters, aka politicians. Tidemarks has a plan that could be very useful in watching to see if this does happen and even recover any money that does flow in unusual directions. All it will require is for the banks where this money has been deposited, to alter the way the accounts holding these funds work. Simply allow anyone at all to go online and inspect the withdrawals and balances at any time. [Do of course absolutely ensure that no other activity can be hacked into the feature!] Perhaps a slightly larger field in the ledger record for capturing a description of the payee and their target for the public funds they have received, would prevent some misunderstandings. In this way we all become auditors. Come to think of it any bank account holding public monies should have this feature. It won’t do any harm enlisting the help of us taxpayers to oversee the spending. Just in case any custodian of such funds tries to direct them to illicit schemes and family members.
The floods have caused the chattering classes and amateur pundits quietly to transfer their attention back to the topic of climate change. Trying to understand all that virus information is getting very confusing now that there are considerable differences between nations and institutions on what to do about stuff like masks and lockdowns. But lethal, once-in-living- memory rainstorms, are much more tangible and the politician photo-ops are considerably more dramatic than an arm and a hovering hypodermic. Further news is that very foolish legislation about “Net Zero” and other meaningless and ineffective activity and behaviour is coming soon. Oh dear.
Basically, the so-called Berea Red sand formations are a lousy place to build a city. Even before they get sodden, they tend to slump with little encouragement. This is one reason why the damage to lives and property was so immense last week when a so-called rain bomb exploded over Durban. No number of regulations and sensible advice is ever going to stop poor people building on the flood plains and precipitous slopes near to the places where they hope to find work. And rich people like the views afforded by scaling a hill and placing an infinity pool on the edge of the precipice. It is noticeable how many foundation failures show that the swimming pool led the way in towing the home down the hill. And the gaping chasms and sinkholes that have opened, have provided a view of the substrate and suggest that practical and affordable foundations in this red stuff are very difficult when the rain comes.
It takes a deliberately masochistic act for a normal cricket fan to take an interest in the IPL T20 tournament that has become a fixture in the sports calendar. Its all so gaudy and frantic and the team names don’t always help in deciding who to support. What the tournament does offer, however, is statistics. By the truck load. Totals, averages, rates and multiple other indicators for both teams and individuals can be mined and analysed without end. It’s no territory for the 30%ers. Presumably these all satisfy gambling demands but it sure also beats train spotting for the inner nerd.
Similarly intriguing in the sports section is the news that Serena Williams and Lewis Hamilton have joined a bid to buy Premier League football club Chelsea. The very rich do have way too much time on their hands but it does illustrate the power of markets continuously to redistribute wealth. If this purchase comes to pass will Chelsea players then cease to “take the knee” before every match?
James Greener
Friday 22nd April 2022
