So I see that one of the items that was discussed at the ANC Youth League congress today was the “nationalisation” of private schools.
As one of my mates said - “What the hell does it mean to nationalise a school?”
It is one thing to “nationalise” a mine when there are mining licenses etc, but a school… how does that work?
Bear in mind that the Youth League event was running about 8 hours late today because their delegates and speakers can’t arrive on time.
Crazier stuff each day….
PS I see that 145000 cops, prison wardens and traffic cops (Phew!) are going on strike on Friday as well… Wonderful!
It is interesting to see that this week the President and most of his senior cabinet ministers are part of an official delegation to China.
This while the country is battling with savage public servants whose strike actions are purported to be costing the country between R200m and R1bn a day as well as a fair whack of damage to public property etc.
I totally appreciate our dependance on foreign investment to grow, but the country needs a commander in chief right now to break the deadlock with the unions and get the country back on track.
One almost gets the sense that it is easier to be dealing with our foreign policy and being wined and dined, rather than rolling up his sleeves and having to make the unpopular call of dealing with the unions - the same people who put him in power…
The strategy of turning a blind eye to the real problems hasn’t worked for other politicians so how it that our big-wigs think it will work for them?
In many ways the ANC is correct, the press doesn’t always give a thumbs up to its members and politicians who actually make a positive contribution to the country.
For me health minister Aaron Motsoaledi has really stood out in the last few days. While hospitals around the country have been crippled by these obnoxious strikers representing our public SERVANTS, Motsoaledi has stepped up to the plate and not just made sympathetic noises trying to appease people.
Instead he has rolled up his sleeves and has helped out at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto over Friday night has spent the day working at the George Mukhari Hospital in Pretoria on Saturday.
Kudo’s Mr Minister, I think you have sent a positive message to the country and been a true representation of what the ANC as a party stands for and the role of politicians in South Africa.
Keep it up!
According to EWN the ANC Youth League has slammed Ronald Nyathi, the head of South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) in Gauteng.
Apparently Nyathi has issued a statement on Thursday saying any school in the province that stays open on Friday is declaring war on the striking public servants and would be shut down with force.
Where is president Zuma? If this guy issued a statement like this, then why have they not sent 20 policemen to arrest the prat and take him to places unknown for a few days? Isn’t that what happens when journalists write nasty things about politicians?
Surely when an elected public official whose lifestyle (whatever that may be) is funded by the tax payer then he is expected to play by the rules as well?
It would send a decent message to other union leaders that these kind of stupid statements are not to be tolerated….
There was a really good point made by the spokesperson for Toyota SA when he was interviewed on the radio today.
The guy pointed out that the recent strike went far beyond shutting down South African production for a couple of days. The impact had a far more long-term impact for Toyota as an employer and that thinking short-term was going to do more damage than good for the striking workers.
He pointed out that Toyota South Africa competed against other Toyota plants across the globe to try and produce a certain number of vehicles for the company. If SA become an uncompetitive manufacturing environment then this would mean that manufacturing would move to more competitive countries.
I hope the workers realise that holding out for that extra percentage points might mean that Toyota might not be producing as many cars in the coming years and there won’t be too much need for their services….
I have been following this whole debate around media freedom etc, largely with indifference. I personally think that many of the journalists are blowing the whole thing out of proportion and all jumping up and down on their pedestal screaming about lack of press freedom just because they have their chance on a soapbox.
Journalists are very good at acting the victim and then using their media channels to spout their views. But anyway that is an aside.
I thought this comment below was a very telling one about the quality of political leadership we have in the country. This is an extract from an article run on one of South Africa’s biggest news sites where the head of the Banking Association of South Africa is being quizzed by politicians as to why they are not lending to small businesses:
The ANC’s Zephroma Dubazana said she had been under the impression that commercial banks used taxpayers’ money from the government fiscus, and were therefore obliged to help small enterprises. Coovadia had to explain the difference between money from the fiscus, as in the case of Khula, and private deposits kept by commercial banks on the public’s behalf.”
Here is a politician who genuinely believes that the banks get money from government and taxpayers to fund their operations. Maybe somebody should do the sums and calculate just how much tax the 6 biggest banks in South Africa contribute to the tax pool….
It does not say much about Dubazana who would then be involved in putting together policy around small business in South Africa. You can’t wonder why the sector is battling so much when ill-informed people like this are trying to provide a framework in which these institutions can work.
Having been in media for a while, red flags start to go off when certain names seem to be cropping up and people start garnering “PR” in a very short space of time.
One is our own homegrown “entrepreneur” Kulubuse Zuma - the nephew of president Zuma - who suddenly seems to find himself in the papers and financial news almost every single day with some new “deal” he has managed to strike.
He’s the guy who is in the process of buying the old Aurora mining assets. “Buying” perhaps is a strong word though because he is battling to put any real money down on the table and the deal has stalled a couple of times because he hasn’t had the money to actually make the deals and has had to hit up other foreigner investment groups… no prizes for guessing what they will want.
While he has been messing around, people at the mine have been working since February without salaries.
I get wary when you start reading stories that the guy dropped R79k in an evening on booze for him and a few of his mates… you get the sense there is a publicist trying to build up something.
This is one guy we will be watching closely in the next few months methinks. I don’t think he is going away unless a lot of public pressure comes to bear on him.
I was listening to a sound bite on 702 last night from one of the representatives from the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) and I laughed so hard.
He was going on about how arrogant government is because they are offering 6.5% and not meeting the “demands” of 8.6% or whatever it is that the union is looking for.
But the pearler for me was when he said that the union realises that the “no work no pay” rule will be in force but he has seen other unions on the African continent go on strike for as long as a year to meet their demands and they must serve as an inspiration to the members of SADTU.
Two observations here:
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I suspect as a trade union representative the union will continue to pay his salary in some capacity or another. So before the teachers follow the union into the abyss they should maybe make sure that the union members are also taking the same pain
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It doesn’t show much of a level of education if you can aspire to be like other trade unions in Africa who have been on strike for a year. That’s not a strike, that is downright laziness…
My humble opinion is that teachers should be given a decent increase. Government is missing a huge opportunity to attract skilled people back into the recession. We have skilled people from overseas coming back - put through a big increase and make it rewarding to be a teacher when some of the industries are bleeding jobs.
If I were a negotiator I would say - fine if you agree to leave any kind of teachers union we will push through a 12.5% increase, but then the agreement is that you cannot for x number of years participate in union activities or strike.
All the economic reports point out that education is a serious problem here in South Africa, why not reward teachers now while there are a number of skilled people coming back into the country.
Thoughts?
sitting in a prison cell on a Friday night ….
…. ok I haven’t worked out the punch line to this one yet but there must surely be some opportunities considering the news-flow last week.
Say what you like about the politics behind the Selebi trial it does prove that nobody is too big in South Africa to be held accountable for their activities.
Throw in the fact that the local cops aren’t held in awe of a socialite like Paris Hilton and I think we’ve done well in the last week!
Thumbs-up for SA last week?
I have to say I take some heart from the fact that Brian Dames has been appointed as the new CEO of Eskom as opposed to a “cadre deployment”.
It is a critical utility for South Africa, the company is involved in some really tough wage negotiations and it is one of those industries which is such a balancing act between long-term planning and juggling of existing resources.
To have somebody like Brian Dames in there who knows a thing or two about managing an energy business and doing some long-term planning.
It is also a thumbs up to the ANC which has proven that it is serious about putting good people - irrespective of race or political affiliations - into businesses which need business people.
Good decision all around I think.
