Category: economic issues

Zuma’s Spousal Budget – Calm Down!

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Huge uproar around South Africa today as it emerged last night that the country pays a “massive” R15.5m per year to support President Jacob Zuma’s three wives. According to Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane, the money is spent on:

“…personal support staff – secretary and researcher – domestic air travel and accommodation, and international air travel and accommodation for official visits abroad approved by the President.”

The budget has increased from just over R8.1m in the previous year, when Kgalema Motlanthe was in charge – although he kept his private life private and his wife did not attend any public engagements.
In 2007/8, when Thabo Mbeki (remember him?) was in charge, the budget stood at R8.4m.

Everyone is up in arms, because obviously, if Zuma had less wives, we wouldn’t be paying as much, innit? How dare he follow his cultural path of polygamy. Of course, there are a couple of things that have been forgotten in all the fuss. Aren’t there always?

  • SA is effectively paying R5m per wife per year. Two years ago, we were were paying R8.4m for a wife we rarely saw.
    Last year, we were paying R8.1m last year for a wife we weren’t even sure existed.
    So where were all the complaints then?
  • R15m per year amounts to about R0.30 ($0.04 or 2½ pence!) per head of population per year. That’s 2.5c per month.
    And since you were already paying half of that without complaint before, you’re actually moaning about an increase of just over 1 cent per month.
    Tell me, in all honesty, did you have big plans for that 1c? Did you?

I don’t disagree that there are other things on which the money could be “better spent”: hospitals, education, housing etc etc. But isn’t that always the case? Why the huge uproar over this? 
No, this is just another misinformed and opportunist attack on Zuma’s lifestyle by the media, helpfully egged on by the DA.
When are they going to realise that their efforts would be better served on matters which they have the power (and democratic right) to challenge? Zuma’s polygamy is not one of them.

And if you’re one of those people who are being swept up by the sensationalism of it all before you’ve actually looked at the facts, well, maybe you need to sit down and think why you’re so upset: is it really that 30 cents a year you’re having to fork out or is there actually something else driving that anger?

Kortbroek goes probing

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News in this morning’s Cape Times that Marthinus Christoffel Johannes van Kortbroek, South African Minister for Tourism has demanded a probe into allegations that some accommodation providers are hiking prices excessively for the World Cup.

“We have noted allegations that accommodation establishments in the tourism industry are not responsible, and are inflating prices excessively,” van Schalkwyk said.

Well done, Marthinus. The rest of us only noticed that fact a few months back. It’s good to see that you and your department have got your collective fingers so firmly on the pulse of what is going to be the biggest tourist event this country has ever seen.
My faith in the Government is restored. Unfortunately.

He said the survey would help safeguard the reputation of the tourism industry since South Africa is known as a “value-for-money destination”.
“Price-hiking could damage the reputation of our tourism industry. However, it must be kept in mind that June and July will be high season in South Africa, and tourists should not expect the normal low-season prices,” he said.

Absolutely correct, Minister. However, nor should tourists expect to pay mark-ups of over 300% as we recently noted at the Ashanti Backpackers Lodge in Gardens.

Grant Thornton has been commissioned to conduct the survey, which is expected to be completed in three weeks.

…leaving the Government with very limited time to do absolutely nothing about it. Meh.

This article prompted me to give Ashanti a call, just to see if they have any rooms left for the World Cup. I didn’t even have to fake a British accent, since I still have half of one of those.
“Plenty,” was the reply.

Goodness me. I wonder why?

Slug & Lettuce – Lunch

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The Slug & Lettuce in Green Point opened in December, but unless you are a regular at Ultra Liquors next door, you’d probably never know it. Somehow, I seem to have become aware of it. Hmm.

Of course, for all those Saffas who did their stint in the UK, most likely working out of somewhere with a SW postcode, “The Slug” was a favourite haunt. Now the idea has been exported back to South Africa, where presumably hordes of expat English will descend on the pub, get hideously drunk, be arrogant about their country’s sporting prowess and then dance topless on the bar.   

It was thankfully quiet when we popped in there for Valentine’s Day lunch. Mrs 6000 was immediately drawn to the S&L classic Snakebite & Black, while I settled for a draught Peroni (they also have Jack Black on tap). The pub itself is tiny, but the welcome was warm and the service excellent. The tapas menu looks interesting and I would highly, highly recommend the chili poppers, the mere mention of which is making my mouth water in front of the Winter Olympics highlights this evening.
We also tried the sweet potato crisps, which were great.

Mains were a superb cheeseburger and a standard, but enjoyable calamari. We probably would have stayed for dessert, but by this time, Mrs 6000’s third snakebite & black had gone to her head and we wandered down to Three Anchor Bay where I took advantage of her inebriation to comprehensively beat her at Putt-Putt.

The Slug will need to get a few more punters in if it is to survive. On a strip where there is a bar every few yards, some advertising wouldn’t go amiss. Apparently when there is an event on at the stadium, it is packed, but unless it manages to reproduce those numbers on other days, it will quickly fall by the wayside. And that would be a pity.
The trick will be keeping it open until June, when it’s sure to be a big hit with the visiting fans. I’ll certainly be making it my pre-match drinking haunt. Whether the match is in Cape Town or not.

We can take them breakfast

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The innocence of kids. It blows me away sometimes.

Yesterday evening was one of those times. Having picked the boy up from his grandmother’s, where he had spent an exciting afternoon mainly eating, playing snap and eating, we were on our way home via the M3 and then slipping down the Constantia Main Road off-ramp. At the lights on the junction, I saw a mother and her two kids sitting by the side of the road, begging.

Sadly, this isn’t an unusual sight in South Africa, but I have seen this lady here before. She has two daughters – almost exactly the same ages as our two kids (3¾ & 1½, for new readers). And that kind of makes it a bit more personal.
As it happened, I had a small packet of sweets with me which I had planned to share with Alex, but given his gastronomic exploits throughout the afternoon, I had thought better of that idea. Thus, the kids by the side of the road became the grateful beneficiaries of a packet of candy polar bears. Seeing the young girls’ delight at the quickly opened packet and its contents brought a lump to my throat. So I probably wasn’t ideally prepared for what followed.

As the lights changed and we headed home, Alex piped up.

“Why did you give the lady some sweets?”
“Because the lady and her children were hungry.”
“Where do those children live, Daddy?”
“I don’t think they have a home, Alex.”
“So where do they sleep then?”
“I think they sleep wherever they can find some shelter.”
“And where do they eat breakfast?”
“I don’t think they have breakfast, Alex. That’s why they are hungry.”

There was a brief pause in the inquisition from the back seat.
Then:

“I’ve got an idea, Daddy. We can take them breakfast.”

And despite the much deeper issues that lie behind their situation, Alex was right: We can take them breakfast.
And because I’m a great believer in actions speaking louder than words, this Saturday, we’re going to take that mother and her kids some breakfast. Yes, I recognise that this isn’t a solution; I know that it won’t solve anything other than their hunger that day, but it will at least solve that.  

And when u-turn finally get back to me (hello?!?), we’ll maybe be able to help them out a little more.