The dry-run of the dry-run for tomorrow’s Opening of Parliament and the State of the Nation Address was last night.
Having two dry-runs means that any problems discovered in the first dry-run can be ironed out in the second dry-run and any problems discovered in the second dry-run might be ironed out by the time the real thing happens on Thursday. Any problems on that day will likely be due to reaction to Zuma’s job forecasts.
It’s hard to drive when your eyes are full of tears (joy, despair, gas).
And despite a widespread media campaign, people still rang into radio stations, besieged twitter and probably moved to Perth because of the inevitable traffic congestion in the CBD.
That’s not a problem to me. What is a problem to me is when they put on their best whiny voice and trot out that line:
Why didn’t they tell us about this?
Because the simple answer is that they did. It’s been in the Cape Times (albeit with poor maths therein) and the Cape Argus. I’m told that even the Daily Voice mentioned it, but no-one believes their stuff anyway.
But I don’t read the papers
It’s been on Kfm, it’s been on Cape Talk, it’s been on Heart.
I only listen to CDs in my car
It was on those HUGE new dot-matrix signs which are all over this corner of the Province.
I was too busy chatting on my cellphone to look at the signs
Some local blogs even gave you the details as part of their public service covenant.
So what more must they do to get this information through to you?
Employ scantily-clad midgets to go door-to-door to inform everyone in the Western Cape?
Get planes to sky-write the details over the Mother City (South Easter permitting)?
Or just tattoo it on your forehead so when you look in the mirror each morning, you’ll remember? Forever.
What I find odd is that the tiniest bit of bad press about anything in Cape Town or South Africa makes its way through the gossip grapevine via word of mouth, SMS, twitter and – more often – email and Facebook, yet helpful information like this just never seems to get through, no matter the best efforts of mice and men to put it out there.
What exactly does that say about the State of the Nation?
So – let’s have one more go for those of you at the back.
There will be more disruption on the this evening (Wednesday) and tomorrow (Thursday) evening.
Here are the full details.
Now stop moaning and get back underneath your rock.