Struwwelpeter: Let us hope they leave the Union Buildings alone
The five most painful economies in which to live and work
QUOTE of the week from the London Times. Interesting point of view of affirmative action:
“South Africa is the only country in the world where affirmative action is the flavour of the majority who has complete political control. The fact that the political majority requires affirmative action to protect them against a 9% minority group is testament to a complete failure on their part to build their own wealth making structures, such that their only solution is to take it from others.”
Finally, a word recently coined to describe South Africa’s current political situation: Ineptocracy (in-ep-toc’-ra-cy) – a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.
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The EFF are very proud that they have destroyed another “imperialistic colonial monument”. They “necklaced” a statue of an Anglo Boer war soldier in Uitenhage and set fire to it. Except, as usual, they got it wrong.
The statue was that of a Boer soldier, fighting against British imperialism. But that is probably a bit complicated for the EFF to understand.
And now that it is fashion for howling hordes to destroy British monuments, how long before they start on Sir Herbert Baker’s buildings? After all, he was Rhodes’ architect.
But let us hope that they leave the Union Buildings alone, so that the next post 2019 non-ANC government can use it.
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Milton Friedman, the late Nobel laureate economist, once said that inflation is a disease that can wreck a society. Add rising unemployment to the diagnosis, and his profession ascribes a rather non-technical term to the debilitating effect on people: misery.
That affliction this year will be most acute in Venezuela, Argentina, South Africa, Ukraine and Greece – the five most painful economies in which to live and work.
This is according to Bloomberg’s survey data that make up the so-called misery index for 2015. It’s a simple equation: unemployment rate + change in the consumer price index = misery.
The three countries that will probably see the most economic misery in 2015 – South Africa, Argentina and Venezuela – haven’t budged much from their 2014 rankings, when they occupied three of the top four spots, the data showed.
However, Jacob Zuma is tired of his old private jet. Ashtrays full? So he is spending R600 billion that we don’t have to provide what he doesn’t need – three new jets. That might well see us go from the third worst to the second worst placed of economic misery.
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Struwwelpeter came across a photo of Obama and his cabinet – 14 males and six females, all told. For comparison, there was also a photo of Zuma’s cabinet: Struwwelpeter tried to count them, but the photo was so full that it was difficult. However, it seemed to be 62.
So Zuma needs a cabinet three times bigger than America. However, if it were possible to compare the total IQs of the two respective cabinets, you’ll probably find that the sum total IQs of the 20 US ministers are far greater than that of Zuma and his 60 friends. Which is precisely why we sit where we do on the above graph.
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Zuma walked into a branch of First National Bank to cash a cheque. As he approached the cashier he said, “Good morning, could you please cash this cheque for me?”
Cashier: “It would be my pleasure, sir. Could you please show me your ID?”
Zuma: “Well, I didn’t bring my ID with me as I didn’t think there was any need to. I am Jacob Zuma, the president!”
Cashier: “I’m sorry, but with all the regulations, monitoring of the banks because of imposters, fraud and forgers, etc, I must insist on proof of identity.”
Zuma: “Just ask anyone here at the bank who I am and they will tell you. Everybody knows who I am.”
Cashier: “I am sorry, Mr President; these are the bank rules and I must follow them.”
Zuma: “I need this cheque cashed.”
Cashier: “Perhaps there’s another way. One day Ernie Els came into the bank without ID. To prove he was Ernie Els he pulled out his putter and made a beautiful putt across the bank into a cup. With that shot we knew him to be Ernie Els and cashed his cheque.
“Another time, Naas Botha came in without ID. He pulled out a rugby ball and made a fabulous drop kick where the ball landed in my coffee mug. With that spectacular kick we cashed his cheque. So sir, what can you do to prove that it is you, and only you, the President?”
Zuma stood there thinking and finally says: “Honestly, I can’t think of a single thing I’m good at.”
Cashier: “Will that be R100 notes or R200 notes, Mr President?”
