February 19 2004
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February 19 2004 |
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Old Trevor is punishing the "sinners" again (or is that still). Alcohol and tobacco is going up. A packet of twenties will now cost you 64 cents more, which makes Camel R13.50. Sure, for most white folk it's still more or less "affordable", but the millions of blacks out there will suffer. So will the tobacco industry. With the influx of millions of Rands worth of gray products as well as the much cheaper brands, the big boys will hurt.
Sad to see that violence has already erupted in KwaZulu Natal with the elections still over a month away. The ANC has never been a firm favourite of the Zulus. An incident last week got the political parties together in signing an agreement of non-violence amongst their followers - but will the followers stick to it? This is worse than soccer fans in Europe. The DA have announced their master plan for South Africa. Hundred and fifty thousand new cops on the streets and a million new jobs, but they're concentrating their whole push on the crime issues we have. Maybe the more affluent people whom are mostly affected by crime (when looking at value of property) will fall for this one. The guys in the townships won't. What they're interested in is jobs.
Which is where the whole issue lies, isn't it? There are way too many young people turning to crime for an income, and it does pay. With the government's moratorium on the release of crime statistics we don't have a clue most of the time of what's happening in our country. People are robbed on a daily basis, kids and old people get raped on a daily basis and the police is still understaffed, under qualified and bound by silly laws that put the criminal first. This is gonna be a long and painful process.
The latest money spinner for locals are "property safaris". UK buyers are spending almost R11 000 on six days of business and pleasure, looking at property investments here. The guys in charge here, Ocean Estates International subsidize flights for prospective clients. Luxury cars, top hotels and sightseeing trips are all part and parcel of business. Durban property prices have increased by 36.5% last year, Jo'burg by 16.8% and Cape Town 16.3%. A reasonable house in Cape Town goes for about R700 000. Houses are bought as a retirement home but is rented out by the owner (the agent takes care of this). Not a bad idea when you're earning Pounds now, is it?
And for those of you who like statistics - government claims the following:
The country's deficit on loans fell from 6.3% in 1993 to 1% 2002/3. Public sector debt was reduced by 10%. Investment makes out only 17% of GDP. Per Capita growth (per person) before 1994 was 1%. The economy has grown 2.8% per year since then. Employment has grown from 9,6 million to 11,6 million since 1995 (we all know where that growth occurred). Work days lost due to labour strikes have dropped from (workers on strike) 3.6 million in 1993 to 700 000 in 2003.
Black empowerment figures were published as follow - 2001 saw 13% of top management and 16% of junior management change into black hands. Black ownership of public companies increased from virtually nothing in 1994 to 9,4% in 2002. Social grants have increased to benefit over 7 million people compared to 2,6 million in 1994. Government expenditure have increased from R10 billion to R34,8 billion taking care of social grants only. Current expenditure on Hiv/Aids is standing at R3,6 billion and still our stand-up comedian insists that a healthy diet is needed, and not anti-retroviral drugs.
Over 2,3 million subsidies were approved for new houses of which government built (contracted) 1,53 million. 3.8 million people now have access to electricity (from 2.3 million in 1994) - that explains the local council debts to Escom due to non payment for services. Land restitution saw 799,479 hectares restored.
Very nice to throw figures like that around, very nice to brag about what you've accomplished. But over a ten year period? Is this really all that they've done? Come on, with a population of over 45 million people it's but a drop in the bucket. If they would start looking for real jobs (ANC politicians) and stop milking the country and it's people, more can be done. Before 1994 most municipal councilors (including the mayor) had real jobs. Their work done for the people was mostly for very little pay.
