A Goal, Especially When You Have No Track Record of Making Goals, is Not an Economic Growth Path!

I am astonished at the way Zuma's announcement of a goal is being hailed as a step foward in economic development!

from: Eyewitness News
(click image for full story online)

When a government and party with no record for implementation launches it's new economic strategy with an astonishingly stiff goal of 5 million jobs (I believe they have only managed a loss of some million jobs in their 15 years of trying) one has to be totally skeptical.

Of course South Africa needs 5 million new jobs, more in fact, but just to set sensible goals and hope to reach them is not a way to create jobs - its just a Strategy of Hope! I know because I've been there in business and it just doesn't work!

Gauteng Licensing a Mirror to South Africa's inability to Make Things Work!

The reversion, after 5 years from a call centre system of booking license appointments seems to have not been reported - but is to me it is a case study South Africa's inefficiency and lack of implementation skills.

Only Eye Witness News seems to have reported it

from: Eye Witness News
(click image for full story online)

although this report seems overly positive. There were interviews on radio that indicated that queues weren't moving and even with a new function users were shunted from queue to queue and refused service.

When the call centre system was introduced it was clear the system wasn't working (see for example this blog at the time)very early on. This carried on for 5 years with amazing loss of time and money

Now they plan to commission an impact study and close the call centre! Sounds like the feasibility studies being one on the multi billion Rand world cup stadiums!

Zuma Survives and Sells Organisational Renewal - But Will He Be Able To Do It?

Looks Like Zuma & His Party Leaders have succeeded in retaining power and getting buy in for an "organisational renewal" of the ANC which seems to address many of the bad habits that have developed as they enjoyed power.

from: IOL
(click image for full story online)

But will he be able to make it happen? After all at the start of his term he committed to creating jobs and improving public services, both of which are worsening rather than improving!

Three Electrocuted By Illegal Wiring But Residents Will Carry On!

Alongside all the fun and spectacle of the ANC VGC in Durban a chilling story.

City Power removed illegal wiring in SLOVO Park near Eldorado Park on Friday, uprooting illegally connected electricity connections. The removal of wiring follows the deaths of three boys whose bodies were recovered in a river last week. An electric cable running through the river suggested that the boys could have been electrocuted.

from: Sowetan Live
(click image for full story online)

This is a horrific vision of how people think in these situations, life seems to have little value after 3 were killed, resident Phillip Makwela said

"It is not the first time they have disconnected our electricity. We are not worried. We will make another plan,"

And then the reason for illegal connection

Makwela said residents had complained many times to the councillor about the lack of services in the area but nothing had happened. "Our votes count as much as everyone else's but we don't get services," he said.

Councillor Kevin Wax said government's refusal to develop informal settlements delayed the delivery of services to people desperate for basic services.

25 Ministers Have Missed Oral Question Time in Parliament & Without Explanation!

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has found that of the 34 ministers in President Jacob Zuma's cabinet that have failed to appear before Parliament for oral questioning, 11 didn't even bother giving an explanation for their absence.



This is a reinforcement of the point made often in these posts that ministers see themselves as superior to the rest of us. Not attending and then not providing an explanation is not the way most people behave towards their employers and is also in breech of parliamentary rules.

The DA said

“This raises concerns about why ministers no longer feel compelled to inform Parliament when they miss a scheduled appearance before it.”

“Such conduct perpetuates the perception that government ministers increasingly regard themselves as above Parliament, rather than accountable to it,” party leader Hellen Zille's spokeswoman Priya Reddy said.

The ANC said

...the absence have been noted and they were confident of an improvement.

ANC Lambastes, Rebukes and Criticises ANCYL

The ANC has made three strong statements in response to the ANCYL pronouncements on MECs competence, Mathews Phosa's role and their conclusions from the arrest of wa Africa in the last few days.

 

from: iAfrica
(click image for full story online)

 

The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday lambasted its provincial youth league for calling for two MECs to resign. "The African National Congress noted with great shock and dismay, pronouncements by the provincial ANC Youth League that some MEC's should step down," said ANC provincial secretary, Sihle Zikalala.

The league was rebuked on Monday for alleging that ANC treasurer general Mathews Phosa was destabilising Mabuza's leadership.

The ANC criticised the Mpumalanga structure of its youth league on Tuesday for saying the conduct of Sunday Times journalist Mzilikazi wa Afrika illustrated the need for a media appeals tribunal."We don't agree with the youth league," said African National Congress spokesperson Jackson Mthembu.

Strikers Terrorise South Africans !

This is definitely how it is in Zuma's Land - today entrances to hospitals were blocked and tomorrow teachers plan to block a freeway.

 

from: iAfrica
(click image for full story online)

 

What these people think this has to do with strikes is incomprehensible - a strike is simply the withholding of one's labour to show one's worth, not terrorising the public and trashing the cities as they do in South Africa.

The unions "deplore such behavior" but do nothing about controlling or directing their members - unless of course they support this type of action.

Strikers should maybe remember that in the 70's British Unions lost their power after strikers started stoning cars leading to the killing of an innocent motorist!

 

Nzimande has His Say on the Press - Still Smarting Under the Mount Nelson Story?

I wonder why Nzimande doesn't like the press? - IOL reported him as saying:

journalists were always "looking for bad news out of the ANC and its alliance partners".

Could it be he was exposed by the press or does he know ANC can't stop the misbehavior which is the raw material for the press?

(click the image to open website)

 

What Can ANC Claim About The Succesful World Cup? - Patricia de Lille was Wrong!

At the DA's congress Patricia de Lille, in identifying the need for the Government to start delivering, implied that the ANC had succeeded in delivering on the World Cup.

The ANC had missed their service delivery targets for many years, but suddenly it had managed to organise the World Cup, she said.

(click the image to open website)

Whether government should claim that for themselves is debatable - FIFA surely managed everything as was clear from all reports. Without FIFA continually forcing the issue its my contention that it would have been very different.

Is that not after all what is wrong with the current actions - everyone knows we need to create jobs and eliminate poverty! Just read your RDP or ask Jay Naidoo. But the government is incapable of converting money consumption into outputs!

This inability to implement is aggrivated by what de Lille sees:

"The problems are often a result of poor governance and greedy leaders. President Jacob Zuma is in the media for all the wrong reasons and in the meantime service delivery protests are on the increase.

"The real source of poverty is ANC corruption and greed."

After 440 Days Zuma Needs To Separate Minister Fighting About Whose Draft Policy Needs to be Developed

Here after almost a year and a half no economic policy document and ministers scrapping, while the poor and unemployed wait. Again is it just Zuma's inability to run government or does he owe too much to too many?

(click the image to open website)

What happened

President Jacob Zuma prevented a potentially explosive clash between his economic cluster ministers, triggered by the long-standing feud of who is in charge of driving the economic growth path.

At the cabinet lekgotla this week, the old differences between Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel and Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, resurfaced, until Zuma suggested a special cabinet meeting to sort out the economic roadmap.

Briefing reporters after the lekgotla, Zuma admitted that the economic growth path issue had to be shelved, but he gave no reasons.

And Why The Lack of Progress

Asked whether the Thabo Mbeki administration's programme would be abandoned, Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane said, "This is no carbon copy of the other programme".

A senior ANC official said the Zuma administration behaved as if it "just took over" from a different party in the 2009 general elections.

But academic Mashupye Maserumule, writing in The Zuma Administration, Critical Challenges, warned "it would be dangerous for the Zuma administration to consolidate the Mbeki administration's strategic trajectory in the pursuit of a developmental state agenda".

"The Zuma administration... should carve a strategic governance niche within which to embed its new policy orientation.

 

This Is Exactly What Zuma Was Saying Just Over 440 Days Ago!

When he entered office many of us were impressed by the apparent determination of Zuma to get things done! But here we are with just the same stories and no signs of progress!

(click the image to open website)

Is it that he just doesn't have it and owes too many people too much or is it the hugh inertial of trying to push a civil service reveling in their new found chance to serve them selves and simply ignoring the people they should be serving.

 

SAA Board Issue a Summons for R31 million from Former SAA CEO Who They Gave a R 13 million Golden Handshake!

Its no wonder state companies spend millions on world cup tickets and ministers R 40 000 for a stay at a hotel. All these people have some kind of entitlement feeling, although there's seldom anything to justify it!

(click the image to open website)

 

Even if its Legal & Constitutional it Can Still Be Wasteful! Especially at R 2 700 a night!

The ANC press release regarding Minister's hotel costs is off the point and develops political rhetoric out of incorrect facts.

(click the image to open website)

We only consider Blade Nzimandi's Mount Nelson stay, as that is based on a statement from his department

The report accuses the press of not informing itself that

"There is nothing immoral, illegal or unconstitutional in public representatives staying in hotels as this is no breach of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) or the provisions of the Ministerial Handbook."

However the press have never said it was illegal or unconstitutional expenditure and the PFMA surely doesn't concern its self with moral issues!

The press says it is wasteful which is defined as using or expending something of value carelessly, extravagantly, or to no purpose). To stay 15 days in a hotel that costs R 2 700 a night surely meets that definition. Other There are other options that could be used - these are not some kind of superior class who need luxury.

The real cause of the wastage is the incompetent planning that undertook the refurbishing when the minister was attending parliament and not when he was in Pretoria.

Thats all pretty straight forward and not arguable - another post will address the less concrete issues.

 

 

So R 3 000 a night was sensationalism by the press - it was only R 2 700 - The Department of Higher Education!

So the reports that Blade Nzimandi paid R 3 000 a night for his room at the Mount Nelson was incorrect. Ranjeni Munsamy said the Saturday Star had "sensationalised that figure" and it was actually very reasonable.

(click the image to open website)

So it turns out he had to stay in a hotel while his official house was being renovated - it would have made more sense to do that while he was in Pretoria, rather than while parliament was sitting. I don't suppose we can expect him to lodge with one of his comrades to save money - so what else is there except the Mount Nelson for 15 nights, not the "sensational" R 3 000 a night but the reasonable R 2 707 Rand a night!

Lets hope this is not a reflection of how Higher Education is going to go.

 

A Party and a Prayer To Celebrate SA's Success in Staging The World Cup.

I am proud that a fantastic World Cup took place in South Africa!

I don't agree with Zuma's ideas of what we should do now!

(click the image to open website)

If there is to be a prayer lets not forget to thank FIFA for pushing very hard to get us to succeed. Also lets please stop the celebrations and get down to some serious work now!

Finally lets not drag the rest of Africa into our success - let us see Zimbabwe or Somali organise anything!

 

How well does the Government use South Africa's wealth? Not at all!

The diagram below from Gapminder shows that generally the richer a country is (the horizontal axis is the GNP, a measure of per capita income) the higher the life expectancy. This presumably because people live better, have a better environment and get better health care through income effectively spent by the government.

(click the image to open website)

With a high GDP one expects a country to have a good life expectancy, but South Africa's is around where Angola is and has a life expectancy of something like a third less than many other countries at the same GNP level. Conversely SA's life expectancy is similar to that of Zimbabwe which has a GDP only a 25th of South Africa's.

So I conclude the Zuma government and its predecessors has not given us a good health return on our wealth, maybe because too much leaks through corruption and the expenditure is not efficient.

 

Auditor General Says 13 billion Rand wasted - let alone stolen and inefficiently spent!

Its a sad state of affairs revealed by Auditor-General Terence Nombembe.

(click the image to open website)

The breakdown of the R13bn wasted by some of the country's municipalities is:

• Material losses of more than R5bn, among 65 municipalities.
  
• Unauthorised expenditure in 82 municipalities that, combined, exceeded R2.4bn.
  
• Fruitless and wasteful expenditure of R117.4 million by 92 municipalities.
  
• Irregular expenditure of R2.3bn.
  
• The underspending of budgets, with R1.5bn unspent.
  
• Unspent government grants that added up R1.6bn.

Material losses seems to mean the municipalities involved couldn't, on average, account for R 75 million worth of "things". Sounds like not being able to keep simple records.

 

The Blue Light Convoy - A Pathetic Symbol of Perceived Importance

Blue light convoys are groups of cars traveling together to get VIPs to their meetings. This is one of several stories where these convoys have caused serious problems leading to criminal charges against members of the convoy.

(click the image to open website)

As is common in Africa, the politician enjoys being and in fact often is venerated as some kind of super human. The important VIP seems to believe they need a high speed group of cars to get them to their meeting late! Late so that them delaying the meeting for many others shows reinforces their importance. Maybe we don't want to suggest they walk, as in the new UK government, but something more modest along with some planning could eliminate problems.

I have been passed by one of these on a motorway and even there it is unpleasant. A total lack of respect for the people they make wait and real danger for the road user!

 

Dual Prices at The Pub - Ripping Off The Tourist

This is one of the unfortunate consequences of the general "all for me" approach in almost all sectors of South Africa - a short term view of raking in whatever there is to be had! This is clearly good for this months income but not for long term tourism which is what South African must build on!

(click the image to open website)

Good examples are civil servants, where the majority are only in it for their own benefit and take no responsibility for delivering what they are paid for.

That's why little teaching takes place at many schools, teachers don't push but just accept the prevailing climate of pupils who have no interest or motivation to learn - and the quality of education is the result.

This is accepted by government as proven in the numerous efforts President Zuma has made to put pressure on state employees - apparently performance systems are still not in place.

 

ANC Has Let Services and Infrastructure Degrade

There is no doubt that this latest call to halt the degradation of roads is another example of how the ANC has not managed to properly spend (lack of capacity, corruption, poor focus) the vast increased state income.

(click the image to open website)

Eskom was the first to become evident, then water treatment and now government admits education and health are in a mess.