Two Bits – 30 October 2015

With a population of 400 million and the largest economy in the world, Barack Obama’s cabinet today consists of 15 people.

So South Africa with 60 million people and a budget that is a fraction of America’s, you would think that our cabinet would be smaller? You’d be wrong. According to the government’s website, President Zuma has 35 cabinet ministers and 37 deputies, plus himself and the deputy president.

Do you think that is necessary? I think their appointments have more to do with rewarding the anti-apartheid Struggle cadres than out of necessity. And 21 years on, all of those make too much of their Struggle credentials. The real Struggle, as we saw last week, is going on outside the gates of Parliament while the Old Guard feed at the trough inside.

The government of President Zuma has forgotten where it came from and would appear to be only concerned with looking after itself. George Orwell captured this so well in his anti-socialist treatise Animal Farm. Of the ruling pigs on the farm, he wrote: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

Many have branded the students who are protesting across the country for no increase on next year’s fees irresponsible hooligans, but I believe they are right to voice their anger. They are right to shout at the government leaders, and not the university administrations who rely on what they are given from the government purse.

Former Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi tweeted that 10 million students could go to university free on what has, in his view, been mismanaged by our government.

Mismanaged 3 year

funds degrees

Nkandla 246 000 000 2 000

S A Post Office loss 1 370 000 000 11 138

3 x VIP jets 2 000 000 000 16 260

SAA bailout 2015 6 500 000 000 52 846

eToll overspend 10 000 000 000 81 301

PetroSA losses 14 500 000 000 117 886

Proposed nuclear deal 1 200 000 000 000 9 756 098

Total 10 037 528

I can’t agree about the nuclear power deal – heaven knows, we sorely need better electricity supply – but even if we take that figure out, what is left would provide education for about 280 000 students.

And when you get started on the cost of corruption, the figures go through the roof. Nobody knows how much has been lost to theft, mismanagement of public funds, inflated tenders etc, which all go under the general heading of corruption. R30 billion? R700 billion? R3 trillion? All these figures get bandied about, but we can only be sure that it is many billions.

Zuma vowed to root out corruption, but when it comes down to it, senior party men make mealy-mouthed statements about ‘getting to grips’ with corruption. They don’t say straight that those caught with their fingers in the till will be hauled to court, fired and blacklisted! We’re told that officials have been prosecuted, but few stories about convictions make the papers. Officials booted from one municipality have no trouble finding jobs in another municipality. A looting continua!

Thirty years ago, Frederik van Zyl Slabbert shocked the establishment by resigning from his position as leader of the opposition Progressive Federal Party because he felt that Parliament was irrelevant in the context of South Africa’s political problems. And he was right on the money.

I get a feeling of history repeating itself when I watch Julius Malema’s EFF comrades shouting the odds today. They are a hair’s breadth from repeating Van Zyl Slabbert’s action and walking out of Parliament. JuJu will be a formidable force if he sets himself up as leader of the country’s disaffected youth.

Nelson Mandela said in 1994 that it was the ANC’s vision to provide the first 10 years of education free. I know through our Orphan Fund that whatever anyone says, 21 years later education is not free. Only those families earning below a certain level qualify – just imagine a orphan child drowning in a sea of red tape to get that privilege! Schools are very reluctant to take them in because they cut into their already stretched budgets. And don’t forget the uniforms and a dozen other things. So, free? No.

Globalization and international trade requires countries and their economies to compete with each other. Economically successful countries will hold competitive and comparative advantages over other economies. The education and training of a country’s workers is a major factor in determining just how well the country’s economy will do.

Education and training should take a much higher priority that executive jets, fancy ministerial houses and bloated cabinets. Free education must become a reality if we are to succeed.

* * *

A large lion and a small lamb strolled into a cafe. The lamb ordered a cup of tea and a plate of spaghetti.

“What about your friend?” asked the waitress, indicating the lion. “Isn’t he hungry?”

“If he was hungry,” said the lamb curtly, “do you think I’d be sitting next to him?”