I suppose one needs to be a
proper accountant to feel comfortable with numbers quoted to 12 significant
figures. That’s what is being used in discussions about the likely misuse
(misappropriation even) of funds by the dubious characters who were responsible
for the social grants program. Apparently, R 1 325 538 482.50 has
gone missing. A whip round in the tea-room should raise at least the 50c and
save two digits. But it’s unlikely that very much more than that will be
located let alone repaid.
At this time of robust discussion
about who owns what land – a topic which is throwing up its own contributions
to foolishness and idiocy -- a new and
useful faux-currency unit has been introduced to highlight the amount of public
value that has been “lost” by those who were entrusted to use it wisely. This
is the unit of “hectares handed over”. And is based on quite reasonable assumptions
about the market prices of land on offer or even already acquired by government,
plus set up costs where necessary. It turns out that the public money that went
missing stolen during the Zuma era would have been able to hand over more hectares
than there is currently demand for. Most
of the supporters of the “Expropriation without Compensation” slogan are probably
hoping for a three bedroom two bathroom bungalow on 2000 m2 with pool and triple garage
in a leafy suburb close to schools and shops. Few are that keen at living in
the sticks, starting work on a tractor at 4am, waiting for rain, and dealing
with unpredictable markets for produce.
The story this week is that JZ is
now penniless. Despite a nice salary and
now a retirement package plus whatever else his chums were salting away for him
in sandy climes, his friends and even his lawyer have left him. Now most retired
politicians supplement their income with personal appearances and an
autobiography. Mr Zuma is amazingly proficient at Zulu stickwork but his
speaking skills may not be a money spinner. Presumably though he is being
pestered by throngs of ghost writers looking to get his story into print.
However, it would be embarrassing if that sold fewer copies than the record-setting
President’s Keepers by Jacques Paauw.
Company reporting season is in
full swing and even the carefully selected numbers which companies hope will
entertain shareholders and satisfy regulators are not exciting. Very few
industries are enjoying satisfying growth mainly because the customers who buy
their offerings are increasingly stretched. Much of our discomfort is being
caused by large increases in taxes and levies which are needed by National
Treasury to pay state employees and distribute to social grant beneficiaries.
The severe problem of course is that in terms of value for money there is very
little difference between these two groups. With at least 35 ministries in
central government, each replicated at provincial level and staffed by politicians
and bureaucrats, the cost to a taxpayer of getting a single piece of paper
issued or stamped or registered, is impossibly high. This vicious cost spiral
is tightening with every passing day and every revelation of misused and
misspent funds. It is easy to understand the anger and desperation of those who
now regularly protest by blocking roads and burning busses. Almost all of us in
South Africa have come to realise that there is not yet a single person or
party capable of fixing the mess. It will take a fierce and fearless despot in
the mould of Maggie Thatcher.
Yet again I have not been invited
to attend the Monaco Grand Prix to watch proceedings from the pool deck of a
large yacht, complete with attractive waitrons being generous with champagne
and appropriate nibbles. Next year I’ll have to do my own thing and see about getting
into that fabled harbour on a stand-up paddle board fitted out with a garden chair
and a cool box filled with Castle Lite and biltong. But anyway, I do have ample
stocks of these refreshments for this weekend and the armchair in front of the
TV. Which raises the topic of whether Supersport will survive in its present
form for much longer, now that the minister of sport is taking an interest in how
it chooses its staff.
James
Greener
Friday 25th
May 2018 Africa Day
