How long will it take for the ultimate ANC-defender (Joey Shaarky) to make some snide racist comment on Facebook.
Much is happening on the ANC front. We have the Mining Industry that is in a complete shambles, such that they have actually placed a moratorium on receiving new applications for prospecting rights. And then there is the Protection of Information Bill. This is a total shocker and harks back to the old PW days. So disgusting is this thought that for the first time big business has actually spoken out about it. Gareth Ackerman, following in his father's footsteps has also spoken out about it - good on you mate. As to its constitutionality - Pierre de Vos has a few words to say about that. In case you don't want to read his post - the answer is NO FUCKING WAY is it constitutional.
And the upshot of these two little incidents. The Times had this to say
Two questionable mining deals and two proposed measures to curb the media have posed a question mark about how South African President Jacob Zuma’s government has been running the country.
The deals and proposed media curbs in and of themselves may not be hugely significant, but they have triggered a volley of criticism directed at Zuma’s government, suggesting it may suffer from a leadership vacuum where cronyism can thrive.
The risk for investors is that with few safeguards in place, a constrained media and a weak administration, sweetheart deals could increase in the remaining four years of Zuma’s term.
I was chatting to a regular reader of this informative blog yesterday who had sent me a mail about the AMSA/ICT deal. He told me that he was speaking to a not-insignificant CEO about BEE and the ANC, and this not-insignificant CEO told him that he no longer entertains any consultant who purports to have influence with the decision makers in the ANC. The reason behind this is very simple - there are a multitude of factions within the ANC and EVERYONE of these is actually running the party!
This makes perfect sense when you think about that stinking ICT deal. The only way for so called serious players to earn cash out of deals is by going the rent option (IOW - buying mineral rights and selling them on). No right minded company is going to take a politically connected person as their "partner" when they can't be sure that this person can in fact arrange any business deals with the government. Sandile Zungu would deny this - he told Bruce Whitfield that they had done a legitimate BEE deal with AMSA and this stands on its own and is not connected to the ICT/Kumba saga. What rubbish - Zungu's credibility is now seriously in question.
When you look at the ANC as this fractured organisation with 15 different drivers and no clear direction, the Protection of Information Bill suddenly makes a lot more sense. They need this bill passed into law to reign in the various factions.
I'll tell you a little story a newspaperman told me recently to illustrate this point. This guy told me that during one week the Star carried a different story on Malema - and all this information came from their neighbour Luthuli House.
With this Bill made into law the factions can go about their nefarious activities and we'd be none the wiser. All we'd ever hear is Jackson Mthembu's pro-ANC drivel.
In other words (and this is from a largely finished song I wrote) - they close the doors to keep the demons in. Clever hey?
And then there are a number of smokescreens that they use to point the transformation blame straight back at business. One of these is the Manyi-ite institution known as the Commission for Employment Equity. The new chair seems to have stolen all of jungle's moves. Mpho Nkeli, alleges extreme racism across the board and is going to ensure that there are numerical quotas in each business. And with dire consequences if these target are not met - in other words transformation at gun point.
It is now so patently obvious that the ANC really has no clue, has run out of interesting ideas and excuses and so now needs to almost go the Zanu-route to ensure that the smokescreen is maintained.
I am heartened by business speaking out about this stuff. The time has come for the government to govern and deliver - why on earth should we as the private sector continuously take the blame and fund their dubious activities.