Marches can easily get out of hand. But marches that are organised by trade unions during strikes nearly always get out of hand. Ranks are not kept, precisely who is who is not known.
Some hooligan joins the march and then, to liven up the boredom, does something downright silly like upending a rubbish bin.
Marches can easily get out of hand. But marches that are organised by trade unions during strikes nearly always get out of hand. Ranks are not kept, precisely who is who is not known.
Some hooligan joins the march and then, to liven up the boredom, does something downright silly like upending a rubbish bin.
Very soon the march becomes an unruly mob and to restore order is extremely difficult. The strikers have wiped out any public sympathy they might have had for their union’s protracted negotiations with Salga over wages.
The fear is that trashing of streets may become standard strikers’ action in South Africa. The right to strike when all negotiations have failed is guaranteed by our Constitution but the trashing of streets is a dirty, low down crime.
Chaos reigns
That negotiations are protracted is not surprising. Government in South Africa is in a state of utter confusion.
Who would believe that President Jacob Zuma and Julius Malema belong to one and the same political party?
The tripartite alliance is so divided against itself that nothing ever gets done. Members hedge their bets: keep talking and wait for the winning horse to emerge.
Sometimes they are jolted back to reality. Such a bolt arrived from the Development Bank of South Africa late last year when a professional survey by a highly reputable civil engineering firm, financed by the government, pointed out that urgent action is needed on our water reticulation system.
Then the thunderbolt from DBSA: “We offered you a loan of R50-million in February 2009 and unless we receive a reply by 12 February 2010 the offer is withdrawn.”
Action stations! Wow, did these people work. No time to talk and bicker, just secure that loan. So now we can now look forward to an upgraded, adequate and fully operational water supply.
Rhodes secures land for residences
Without Rhodes University, Grahamstown would be a decaying blikkiesdorp. It is the biggest employer with the biggest budget by miles.
There are two erven up towards the New Cemetery which Rhodes wishes to purchase from the municipality for new residences.
Since these erven are almost encircled by Rhodes they are useless to anybody else and one is a disused unrehabilitated quarry.
One valuator pointed out that it would cost R7-million to stabilise and rehabilitate the quarry. The second valuator said the same but put the sale price at R7 000 because (at great expense) use could be made of the quarry.
R6 990 is not going to break the bank of either Rhodes or the municipality, but what a lovely debating topic! R10 or R7 000?
The VC even made a special presentation to the council: Rhodes has contractors busy on the adjacent site.
If they can move all their equipment to the next site for the new job it will save Rhodes millions. The matter is urgent.A decision is required. But talk talk talk. Nero fiddles while Rome burns.
The Oversight After the adverse comment by the Auditor-General (AG) Ntombi Baart set some of her senior staff to sort out the offending matters by May so that they are up and running in June, ready for the AG in July.
But the council decides they must have a committee to oversee this work and by some oversight they call it the “oversight committee”. By another oversight, the oversight committee fails to hold a meeting. Uproar.
They were given an ultimatum to hold a meeting within the next week and a special council meeting was called to meet a week later to ensure that that committee had met.
The Oversight Committee met and handed in a list of excellent recommendations couched in the superb English of Brian Reid’s Audit Committee to the Special Council meeting.
The recommendations were noted. Since plagiarism seems to be in vogue nowadays I conclude, “WS Gilbert, thou shouldst be living at this hour. Makana hath need of thee.” Clive Whitford is the chairman of the Grahams-town Resident’s Association.
