Some figures released recently
highlighted the very disturbing growth in the number of people who work for the
state. And an even greater worry is the cost of this overmanned and inefficient
work force. But deep in the list of civil servants there is a post which at
first sounds likes the easiest job in the world. Parliament is advertising for
someone to fill the vacancy of Inspector General of Intelligence. In fact it is
a re-advertisement, because obviously no one has yet applied, believing this to
be a joke. Closer reading however, reveals that the successful candidate will
not spend their days searching the corridors of power for signs of sentient
life. Rather he or she will be the South African equivalent of “M” the
fictional British spy boss. There is a very high possibility that M will figure
among the initials of the appointee – so that’s all good then.
It feels as if our poor nation is
suffering another big upward leap in the level of socialist stupidity and obstinacy.
This week a full-colour four page pamphlet has been published by the Department
of Labour. In poorly written and seemingly unedited bureaucratic jargon it
boasts about the Department’s
achievements in hampering any employer who might be so bold as to create and
offer a job. It lists the numerous Acts, Boards, Institutes and Commissions
that have been created to regulate, advise and punish the already worst
performing market in South
Africa.
It is a very disturbing document.
Next the government has said it intends
to investigate if there is fairness in the retail sector. Don’t those clowns
ever go shopping themselves? Not even natural selection is as pitiless as a
consumer when it comes to boycotting and trashing a retailer they believe is
ripping them off. There’s no need for a government, who on present evidence
runs nothing at all either well or fairly, to spend our money to find this out.
But the most foolish piece of state-sponsored
nonsense must surely be the 2015 Student Spending Report which revealed that
“the average student in SA continues to prioritise instant gratification over
saving”! Well how about that? Whoever commissioned this asinine research needs
to be fired. Unless of course they can show that they never went near a bar and
saved all their allowances when they were a student. In which case, they need
to be fired for being boring.
As matters appear to be are getting ever
worse at Eskom, the internet has lit up with reports and opinions that support
and pander to our prejudices and suspicions. There have been a number of
commentaries about the impossibly poor arguments and figures being used by the
utility to support its claim for a 25% electricity price rise which will surely
deliver a killer blow to many already struggling enterprises. This is the same
outfit which reportedly has apologised to Soweto
to cutting off its power for 10 hours as a reminder that they have paid for
only a fifth of the power they have used. Allegedly almost R100bn is owed by
various entities and people for utilities and services. This is a seriously big
number – well beyond the capacity of most of us to grasp and certainly too hard
for our president to say. It is doubtful if any of this debt will ever get paid
and so it’s little wonder that estimates of the nation’s growth and
creditworthiness get pushed down.
Those large and pesky Fijians really
rained on out Blitzbokke parade in Glasgow
last weekend. It will take some serious heroics as well as some luck if our
lads are to win the Series. In the meantime all the Sharks team can offer their
fans is the faintly silly reminder that the Stormers beat the Waratahs at home.
Enough said.
James Greener
Friday 15th May 2015
