Politics.za

When I saw this headline I initially thought it was (yet another) typo on IOL: The workers want their liver back!. I assumed they had meant ‘lives’ for ‘liver’, but on clicking the link it became clear that striking hospital workers were in fact demanding the return of Minister of Health Manto Tshabala-Msimang’s new transplanted liver.

“The workers want their liver back!” “Dr Beetroot, Garlic we gave yo our liver with love, now you we demand it back by force,” read some of the placards on show from the marchers who included municipal workers and other Cosatu affiliates.

“Manto rose from grave to talk sh*t”, read yet another poster.

Barely two days back on the job Minister of Health makes another puzzling comment:

Tshabalala-Msimang faulted private hospitals for spending R66bn on treating only 7-million people while the state had only R59bn for the treatment of more than 30-million.

I’m not sure if Manto was misquoted, I hope she was. The fact of the matter is that private hospitals didn’t spend R66 billion on 7 million patients, those 7 million patients spent R66 billion on themselves. That government spends only R59 billion on 30 million patients (roughly R2000 per patient per year) is more of an embarrassment for Manto than for the private sector.

I just hope the plan is to raise the amount spent on public health care, not decrease the amount spent in the private sector and then pretend that the two are equal.

Remember that documentary about Thabo Mbeki that was pre-emptively yanked off the airwaves in June last year? Well it seems the thought police at the SABC have decided that we are now sufficiently worthy of watching it.

However there will be a few “minor edits”. Purely for clarity of course. Although I think it took this long because they struggled to find someone who could overdub Tony Leon’s voice.

Tony Leon: We find Mbeki to be quite * crackle * delightful.

Update: Looks like they’ve changed their minds.

The Eastern Cape branch of the ANC has publicly come out in support of the scrapping of legislation allowing floor crossing I’m sure to the delight of opposition parties.

The Eastern Cape branch is considered to be quite influential in the ANC, being the traditional ‘spiritual homeland’ of the Xhosa dominated ANC. However some of their recent actions seem to be be little more than attention grabbers, witness their proclamation that President Thabo Mbeki be allowed to rule for a third term. I hope this is not the case this time.

Has Gauteng Premier Mcebisi Mbhazima Shilowa ever seen a multi-billion Rand train project he didn’t like? First we had the Gautrain (R20 billion and probably rising) and then we had the proposed Soweto Monorail which would have cost R12 billion, although it seemed it was going to be privately funded. That was quickly shot down by the national Transport Ministry but lo and behold it seems to be possibly back on the drawing board.

Minister of Education Naledi Pandor has said that officials and administrators in the Department of Education can no longer play the ‘Apartheid!’ card when quizzed on why they’re not performing.

Some cite apartheid. I acknowledge that the legacy of apartheid continues to affect us, but it no longer serves to explain continued failures on our part. Others cite inadequate resources. Yet, given our budget, this is also no longer a persuasive argument.

That’s kind of refreshing to hear from a cabinet minister, we’ll see if other departments start expressing the same sentiment.

Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool (be sure to read his scintillating blog) is to face a probe deciding whether he misled the provincial legislature about the costs of security upgrades to his house. The DA brought forth the motion and surprisingly it was supported by the ANC. No doubt the ‘Africanist’ faction led by Mcebisi Skwatsha of the Western Cape ANC is behind this, they’ve had their targets on Rasool for a while now.

Still it’s nice to know that bipartisanship is actually possible in SA politics.

I always love it when politicians state the obvious and act as if they have discovered some radical new idea or when they repeat their job description as being some lofty goal to achieve in the future instead of something they should be doing right now. Here’s a prime example of both from Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya:

Children living in extreme poverty were unlikely to make it to the top without help, Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya said on Monday.

“Most of the South African families and communities – in particular those who were disadvantaged by the past regime – find it very difficult to get out of the poverty trap.

“They have remained poor throughout their life span and in most cases across generations.”

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However, he acknowledged that tackling child poverty will require improving access to employment, essential public services and early childhood development for poverty stricken families.

Thank you Captain Obvious.

Minister of Transport Jeff Radebe says the first time he heard about the proposed monorail between Soweto and Johannesburg was when he read about it in the paper.

Radebe said it was not clear “what particular process” had been followed to secure the contract for the monorail. “I’m as in the dark as you are at the moment,” he told the committee.

Now the federalists amongst you out there might very well be cheering the Gauteng provincial government along, after all what business does the national government have in a province’s affairs. Unfortunately with the current administrations love for central planning and considering that all rail projects are considered an area of ‘national competence’ I guess we can assume the monorail is all but dead now.

Update: Government halts Gauteng monorail

The building of a 44,7 kilometre monorail between Johannesburg and Soweto has been “put on hold”, the Transport ministry said on Friday.

Is anyone besides me getting a little bit nervous that in a country with an average income of about R50 000 a year, the average house price is now over R900 000?

Average house price to hit R1m mark

The average price of a house in South Africa is set to top the R1 million mark next year – and economists warn that this will make it difficult for first-time buyers to enter the market.

The projected price is based on house price index figures supplied by Absa bank, which showed that by April the average price of a house in SA was R911 800.