Through a careful
choice of news channels, internet feeds and commentators which match one’s own
prejudices it is easy to become paralysed with fear and despair about what is
happening to our poor country. To conclude that the nation is going to hell in
a handbasket is the sole possible forecast.
And then you sneak a peek at the rand exchange rate – effectively the
share price of the nation that’s probably quite difficult to rig for long
periods of time -- and the dark clouds lift. Well they lift a little bit,
enough to prompt a recalibration of the gloom meter. Since early September, the
rand has improved by well over 10% against the pound, dollar, yen and euro.
This contrasts with the period starting in February immediately following
President Cyril’s elevation to the Presidency, when it was only against the
dollar that the rand showed any optimism. Suffice to say its different this
time (actually, it is always different) and just maybe the range of people who
are starting to be optimistic is getting larger.
Most
parliaments have members who are colourful, controversial and cuckoo. Generally,
they have little real support from the voters, but the proportional
representation model confers rather too much apparent legitimacy to our own brand
of crazy populists. However, Julius Malema, who styles himself as Commander in Chief
(apparently more egalitarian than president or chairman) of his EFF party, is
suddenly bumping up against the press freedom we still enjoy in South Africa.
He, his cronies and family are being exposed almost daily as likely to be involved
in one corrupt scheme after another. Virtually their sole response is to vilify
the investigators and publishers of these allegations, Although South Africa is
a very unequal country as regards to wealth distribution, the numbers indicate
that there very few folks without a mobile phone and this ensures the rapid and
widespread dissemination of stories both good and bad, true and false. Today’s
politicians look back longingly to the good old days when one’s mates owned the
important newspapers and there were just a few noisy fringe publications that
could easily be ignored or growled at. Today, anyone with a story and a Twitter
account can make embarrassing accusations.
In the
meantime, NASA has quietly landed yet more hardware on the Red Planet. This one
won’t trundle about but is equipped to probe its immediate surroundings in
depth. So far, the anti-mining activists haven’t noticed this desecration of the
pristine Martian desert. Perhaps because the trigger word “fracking” has not
been mentioned. That aside, it is still an amazing achievement for a nation
whose own cuckoo is top dog.
There is
something hugely ironic about the sudden preoccupation with who has and who
hasn’t got “a degree”. Especially when
juxtaposed alongside stories about how many fake degrees there are and how
supremely corrupt and incompetent even those with proper ones, can be. And the
reverse.
The boss man
of Eskom has reported casually that the nation’s electricity utility is “locked
in a permanent loss-making position”. This is alarming news. Naturally it’s not
his fault nor the result of poor decisions by any of his half dozen
predecessors, most of whom occupied the corner office only long enough to find
out how the taps worked in the executive wash room. And to arrange the pension
plan. Most of the readers of this letter (with one notable exception) have
scant knowledge of how to balance the books at Megawatt Park (a clever name
really). But those with time on their hands and the interim financials on their
lap will note that while the annual cost of finance is around R15bn, this is
considerably lower than the R17bn which the municipalities owe the utility for
power consumed. Doesn’t this have the makings of a solution?
The headline
says that the ancient Irish sport of hurling has been awarded heritage status
by UNESCO. Well that’s very nice for the Irish but presumably what that means
is that the super bureaucrats at the UN will supervise other people’s money
flowing from non-hurlers to hurlers. Why? What about England’s no-arms tackling
technique in rugby? That’s nearing heritage status.
James
Greener
Friday 30th
November 2018
