Congratulations, Lead SA

Set to The Star, Johannesburg, Thu 04/08/2011 21:36. Not Published.

Lead SA, congratulations on your birthday!  Not many one-year-olds have achieved as much.

You've made it cool again to care about society. Even if their parents are still breaking the traffic laws, you're helping to make the children better citizens.

For me there were just two campaigns that needed more thought.

Firstly, the campaign against Rhino poaching needs another leg (more below).

Secondly, the calls to pray for Madiba.  Lead SA, a vanguard movement, should not be encouraging superstition.  In any case, on a practical note, research (e.g. STEP) has shown that praying for others has little or no effect.  Except when the person knows they are being prayed for.  Then it is mostly counter-productive.

So if you want to waste your time, pray for Madiba.  But if you want to hurt him, tell him that you are praying for him.

In the next year I'd like to see Lead SA tackle the following:

• Campaigning to have the police charge cable thieves and those destroying infrastructure with sabotage instead of mere theft or damage to property.  This is hugely warranted considering the impact on our country.
• Persuading CITES to legalize trade in Rhino horn.  The campaign against Rhino poaching on its own is going to fail because of the economics involved.  A Rhino costs R500 000 to a million Rand and its horn sells for R1.6M to R2.5M, which will go up as the breed nears extinction.  Legalizing the trade will let Rhinos be valued correctly, and farmed.
• Holding Government and Municipalities accountable for service delivery.  Radio 702 and The Star get paid by Joburg Metro to advertise it as a "World Class City", which we all know is a lie: How about giving "Mr Billing Crisis", Parks Tau, an ultimatum to get his house in order or can the adverts?  Tough one –it means putting your money where your mouth is!

All best for the next year, Lead SA!

Cable Theft is Sabotage

Sent Tue 02/08/2011 08:12, Published in The Star (Johannesburg, South Africa); August 3, 2011 as “Rather charge cable thieves with sabotage” without the parts in blue.

The Star of 1 August carried a front-page report about brazen cable theft.

Catching these thieves is difficult because of the speed of the crime, but there is another incentive to doing it.

If the criminal is caught, he will be charged with theft.  This is a lesser crime than robbery, where violence or the threat of violence is involved.  The police will expend less energy in investigating the case, reducing the chance of conviction.  If convicted, the so-called thief will get a short sentence.

Consider now the effect of cable theft. Suburbs are plunged into darkness.  Thousands of lives are disrupted. Businesses can not function.  Huge amounts are spent on backup systems.  Communications halt.  Emergency services fail.  In cases like railways and traffic lights, people can die.

The cost of cable theft to society is completely out of proportion to the benefit to the criminals, yet they continue to do it.

It is time for the criminal to pay the real cost.

Cable thieves are deliberately harming the country.  They should be charged, not with theft, but with sabotage.  Put them away for twenty years and give the police an incentive to make more arrests.

Scrap-metal dealers who buy sabotaged cables must be charged as accessories to sabotage.

Businesses should also pursue class action civil cases to recover their real losses from the convicted saboteurs and their accomplices.

IEC Treatment of its Staff Leaves Something to be Desired

Sent Thu 19/05/2011 08:33.

Published in The Times, Johannesburg, Friday May 20 2011 as “IEC Staff Not Well Treated”.

Published in The Star, Johannesburg, Monday May 23 2011 as “IEC Treated Staff Poorly”.

I was a Party Agent (what cousin Julius would call a "Bloody Agent") supervising the election at the Bet David polling station in Morningside from the start to 11:00, and later for counting from 18:30.

Except for only starting the count about 20:45, the IEC officials there behaved wonderfully.

However, I have misgivings about the way their employer treated them.  These people had typically got up at 04:00 to be at the polling station by six, and the majority left after midnight (the Presiding Officer and her deputies stayed on until after 1 a.m).  Doesn't the Labour Relations Act have something to say about a shift of 18-hours plus?

The IEC provided no food or drink for its staff.  I understood that they were given an allowance for the purpose, but considering that they were expected to be present the whole time except for toilet breaks, what exactly were they expected to do?  The DA provided some food, but hardly enough for a whole team.

But here is the ultimate indignity:  The IEC has been advertising for people to come out and vote, yet they made no arrangements for their own staff who were running the polling station!  You would have thought Special Votes would be organised as a matter of course, but no: it seems they were just given a vague promise that they could vote at the polling station they were running –nonsense, of course, as one has to vote in the ward where one lives.

I am sad that these dedicated people who enable us all to vote are treated so poorly by our IEC, an organisation held in high esteem worldwide.  Perhaps the IEC would care to respond?

[It didn't]

No Point Voting for the DA –Unless You Want Delivery!

Sent to "The Star, Johannesburg", Wed 04/05/2011 14:48, not published.

Pius Khumalo (The Star, Tuesday May 3 2011) says there's no point in voting for the DA because it promises what the ANC promises.  He's absolutely right – if it's promises he's after.

On the other hand, maybe he would prefer delivery?

The record shows that the DA, while it may not promise as much, delivers more. How?  By cutting out "middle-men" like corruption, incompetent deployed cadres, inflated tenders for buddies.

It has been said that the DA delivers on the ANC's promises.

The ANC reminds me of the famous Wizard of Id cartoon:

King: "Chamberlain, do you have my list of campaign promises from the last election?"
Chamberlain: "Yes, Sire"
King: "Did I keep any of them?"
Chamberlain (quaking): "No, Sire"
King: "Fine.  Use them again."

For Publication on April Fool's Day

Sent to "The Star, Johannesburg", Thu 31/03/2011 16:23, not published.

The trend for South African banks to charge for everything continues with the recent announcement, not widely reported in the press, that from tomorrow (1st April) the "big four" banks will charge customers to breathe in their branches.  A spokesman justified this by saying, "Look, we have to pay for air-conditioning.  Eskom and City Power tariffs have gone up substantially: Do people think clean air grows in trees?  If they want free air, they can use the ATMs outside and breathe Johannesburg's World Class smog."

From April ABSA, FNB, Nedbank and Standard Bank will issue time-stamped tickets as people enter.  On exit, an "air fee" will be conveniently deducted from the customer's account for the time spent in the branch.  Those without accounts may pay by credit card or in cash.  People who bring their own breathing apparatus and air supply will be exempt (scuba shops are reporting brisk business).

Fees have initially been set at what the spokesman called "a ridiculously low 10c a minute. We don't want to scare people away initially.  Once they are used to the idea, we'll start really fleecing them."

The good news for consumers is that there are already signs of price wars between the banks: ABSA is, for tomorrow only between 10:00 and 12:00 offering "half-price air time", and Nedbank has countered with "Breathe Free Fridays".  Capitec Bank will not follow suit.  Their Morning Glen manager told this newsletter, "We think it is crazy what other banks charge for.  Not only do we have the lowest fees, we also charge for fewer services.  The public is welcome to come and breathe gratis in our branches, which by the way also stay open the longest."