South Africa

- Is the cabinet heading for a reshuffle in the not too distant future? Many analysts are pointing to signs that President Mbeki may be soon making changes to his cabinet on the back of a few resignations and in line with the 6% growth target.

- A few of SA's best and brightest were honored by the Prez. after their sterling efforts in last years Matric Exams. The biggest surprise of the day came when the Prez actually made a joke - "When I was in matric I had no distinctions, so I don't know what that means" - which caused an uncomfortable 30 seconds of silence before Snuki Zikalala erupted in loud guffaws and ran up to high-five the Prez, "for the best joke....ever!"

- I don't agree with the UCB (or Cricket SA, whichever way you want it) on this one. Apparently they are thinking of boycotting future tours of Australia unless the racist taunting of SA players does not stop. Surely there must be a more constructive way to tackle the problem than this? Punishing everyone for the actions of a tiny, tiny minority hardly seems like a good way to go about things.

- Truman Prince is finally out of the ANC.

- Very interesting website that I will definitely be visiting more in the future.

Dijon de Jager, a qualified chartered accountant, launched Mpower Ratings (www.mpowerratings.co.za) in 2004 in an attempt to cater for small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMMEs) that do not have the capability or understanding of the empowerment codes to get themselves BEE accredited. For a monthly subscription of R100, a small business can enter its empowerment credentials online and generate its latest scorecard rating.

De Jager says the costs of getting a BEE rating are quite substantial and can range anywhere between R5 000 and R15 000, depending on the size of the business. (from the M&G)

I just watched excerpts of the interview with PW Botha and all I can say is that if you ever want to see denialism and historical revisionism at its finest then you should definitely watch this. Those who are easily nauseated by blatant hypocrisy or outright lying should avoid at all costs. A few of the choice quotes (News24) :

On why he never thought blacks were inferior : "Because many blacks, I repeat, many blacks and coloured people co-operated positively with government policy."

On how apartheid was not of his or the NP's making : "[Apartheid] did not originate with us...It's a very old policy and we didn't ask for it."

(This particular quote was said with a perfectly straight face and I was surprised irony didn't walk in the door and hit him in the face with a cricket bat) : "[The] disastrous policy of affirmative action destroys people's chances of providing a service to the country..."

I don't care if "he's still sharp as a razor" as some of the pundit class have called him. He still remains as before a windbag who has an inflated ego and a logical process so flawed that it would make a Standard 5 teacher despair.  

PW you'll always be the biggest clown in SA in my book!

- I've been watching this for a while and have been in two minds over whether to jump on the bandwagon or wait it out. All in all though it is a very healthy sign for the economy and I hope it continues. Chatting to some of the guys who are working in investment banking it sounds like they are making a killing. Bastards. 

- A new "gun lobby" is to be launched in SA to try and convince the rest of us that what we need is more guns not less. Yes, I know, it makes perfect sense doesn't it?

- Foreign firms are "gearing up for intense debate over codes governing the implementation of black economic empowerment (BEE)". Many feel these policies are too vague and impractical for their situations while others like the executive director of the Japanese External Trade Organisation, Katsumi Harano believe that the BEE codes are an “African cost” that Japanese business understand as “an obligation to doing business in South Africa”.    

Okay while I was doing the last post I stumbled on this gem. In Google type "stupidest people ever" and take a look who is top of the pile....

Click the link if you're feeling lazy.

I had to laugh when I read this. Unfortunately it wasn't a good laugh, more like an oh-my-god-can-it-get-any-worse kind of uncomfortable guffaw that slipped out as I felt my grip tighten on the mouse. So let's start off by doing a little quiz to put things in context. You live in a small dorpie which has a notorious former mayor/town manager. This man has been accused amoung other things assault, cronyism, nepotism, fraud, involvement in child prostitution etc. Being a voter who will cast his ballot in the upcoming government elections do you :

a) Make a point of informing people that you have no intention of voting for any party that associated with the scumbag!

b) Make an effort to restore some dignity to the electoral process by giving the scumbags election posters "an extreme makeover".

c) Upon hearing that the scumbag has joined Icosa phone all your friends and demand they go with you to attend a meeting of the said party to show your support for Dear Leader. This would be done after you return from your trip to the planet Zargon 12 of course... can't keep you little green friends waiting!  

 

Yes. 600 people did in fact choose C. Showing that we in SA are well on our way to earning first place in these awards

We here at Someamoungus are all about speaking truth to power. In this regard we have a kindred spirit in Andre from African Houseit who pointed out this brilliant bit of truth in the comments section!

- Some pretty hard hitting comments by Magistrate Victor Mabunda in the trial of two men accused of murdering a young girl. To be honest I don't think I have ever read such forceful comments made by a magistrate or a Judge while sitting on the bench. Magistrate Mabunda doesn't hold anything back.  

- This has only got a small mention in the M&G but I find it really odd. It seems the DA and the NPA are in a "he said she said" fight over just what the status of the 'Oilgate' investigation is. This may be just a game of semantics but clearly someone is playing fast and loose with the facts. At the same time the FF has said the police are still hard at work on "their" case.  

- Apparently the number of people from the US and UK who are applying for SA permanent residence has markedly risen during the past few years. There has also been an increase in the number of expats who are returning to SA after length periods abroad.

This is going to be a rant piece, so if you’re looking for some gentle snark maybe comeback another day (who am I kidding – read on!). There was a time in the late nineties when Somemoungus was an extremely happy man, the NNP – that clique of oppressors and morally bankrupt individuals was slowly but surely going down the toilet. Watching from the sidelines this blogger laughed and cheered as the rats of the NNP climbed over themselves in a desperate effort to escape the SS Kortbroek. With satisfaction I noted the harder they struggled the faster the ship went down….it was a heady sight! For a party that had had total control of SA not 10 years before to be brought down so quickly and so completely was totally…beautiful. I remember happily placing bets on how long they would last and who would be the last fool left tasked with switching off the lights at NP (lets just drop the extra N sham) headquarters. 

But then something inexplicable happened…

The DP, a party with whom I’ve long had a love-hate relationship did one of the stupidest things post democracy politics in SA – it sent over a life raft to allow the rats to escape. Seasoned opportunists, the NP clowns swiftly left their rotting and decrepit home and moved on. Of course an opportunist has no skaam and so quick as a flash they began an in house revolution which the “DA” has tried desperately to hide from the public eye. Even as I write this I guarantee you that this fight is going on between old NP loyalist and DP members – I have seen it with my own eyes on a number of occasions.

What was particularly galling in the whole “alliance” debacle was that it could have been avoided and the DP could have held all the cards at the end of the day. In the short term it may have looked like a good idea for some in the DP who were fixated with getting short-term gains in the polls; however that was all it was - a short-term solution. Scant regard was paid to long term damage.  If the DP had waited the NP would have inevitably fallen apart and then the DP would have been able to set the agenda for those wanting to join from the NP.

“But then we will lose some of those voters and councilors to the ANC”, was a common comment heard at the time, well I’ve got a newsflash to all those preachers - it was gonna happen anyway! What the DP did was it gave the ANC a big thick marker pen which enabled the ANC spin-merchants to brand the DA as a whole as counter-revolutionary and a party for whites. So while the DP may have picked up some votes I believe in the long run they have done some serious damage to their Party brand.

More to come...

Rant over!     

I've been very slack in updating the News Swing section of the blog since the Xmas holidays. So without further ado lets take a look at what's happening in SA today :

- A very interesting story detailing how the former Parliamentary chief financial officer, Harry Charlton has returned to SA determined to clear his name after his axing. Charlton was dismissed last week after a disciplinary hearing found him guilty on 12 counts of misconduct relating mostly to the procurement of computer software and consultants. Charlton is determined to show that his misconduct charges were a smokescreen and that he was fired because he blew the whistle on the multi-million Rand "Travelgate" fraud in parliament.

- Another BEE disaster, this time in Cape Town where it seems the Big Bay BEE deal has turned into a race to see who can make the most profit in the quickest time without having to shoulder any of the accompanying responsibility. In this case prime properties were sold off :

Black-owned companies were given the opportunity by the city to purchase 65 erven at Big Bay as part of an empowerment initiative. But instead of developing the plots in line with Mfeketo's aim of "furthering the city's strategic objectives of increasing broad-based and effective participation by black people in the economy" the black-owned companies simply put many of the plots back on the market - making profits of R80 000 to R200 000 each.

 

- A bizzare story that once again the Deputy-Prez has been involved in another "flite of fancy". This time Phumzile took a 13 minute flight to Sun City at a cost of about R75 000, to open the "Women's World Cup of Golf" - not quite a national priority in the mind of this humble blogger.

- Never one to dwell only on bad news, checkout this nice story of "an Englishman who sold his business in Paarl and left South Africa 40 years ago would like to reward four people who worked for him with £1 000 (about R10 500) each, because he thought they were good workers and nice people...."

Of course by XXX, we mean ANC. Tom Eaton brings it home nicely :

Has the party you voted for in 1994 started taking you for granted? When was the last time your premier wrote you a love letter or ate strawberries out of your naval? Got an urge to slip something into the ballot box, but just can’t seem to maintain an election? Would you get back together with your ex for one more X? Would you cross the floor -- on all fours? Just sms “ANC” to 31186, and we’ll send you all the sizzling, gasping, grasping, heaving, sweating party news you can handle. Do it now -- Madam “Order!” Speaker and the Chief Whip are waiting. They’ll slip off the Freedom Garter and put the Man back in Manifesto. Copulation towards liberation! A better lay for all!

At least, that’s what the African Nation Congress’s advertisement in The Star on Tuesday seemed to imply at first glance...