The Waterkloof Air Force Base Mystery

There’s a strange military base just about north of Johannesburg where mass corrupters occasionally sneak in and mass murderers sneak out, and nobody in charge seems to know how they do it.

The spooks in government tell us that this base is a National Key Point (NKP). For those who don’t know, an NKP is an area designated as of strategic importance against sabotage, and is thus of great importance for security purposes. If nobody (in government) knows how corrupt cronies or heinous murderers sneak in and out, it is very troubling for ordinary citizens.

A couple of years ago, a politically connected family managed to sneak their extended family into the country through this military base. They all went to a wedding, attended by The President of South Africa and other high-ranking politicians. They later told us that none of them had any idea how some of the other guests had arrived in the country through the Air Force Base. It was a complete mystery they told us. Some low ranking officials were blamed, others were promoted to cushy jobs and the mystery was neatly left to lie under a massive carpet.

Just last week, a mass murderer, a guest of the same government, managed the same feat; this time in the opposite direction, even while a High Court was busy compelling him to stay and be arrested. Again, us citizens were told that it was a complete mystery how. The only difference this time, is that the same government is trying to convince a High Court judge, that he is as stupid as the government thinks the rest of its citizens are.

Will he be fooled? More importantly, will he be able to find government liable and enforce a judgement? Time will tell. It’s an outcome that has serious ramifications for a democracy that is currently under siege.

Meanwhile, the citizens wait with baited breath to see which low ranking officials will be blamed, and whom will be promoted to cushy jobs in other areas of government. We also wait to find out if the bigger mystery of why the majority of citizens continue to submissively accept complete and bullshit from the government.

Zuminating the shit we’re in

While addressing a gathering of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Cape Town yesterday, President, Jacob Zuma regaled the gathering with how effective South Africa was at fighting corruption.

Zuma told this apparently unenlightened team of world leaders that his government had put in place institutions of graft-busting that were unbelievably non-existent during the apartheid era. Shocked members of the WEF were then led into a further secret:

There is a feeling that taxpayers’ money cannot be taken by other people. No matter if you are big or small, if there is a problem we have a structure to look at it.

Then in a moment of amazing candour the miscreant President revealed how he had valiantly hand-picked a team of ruthless investigators from his own cabinet and party to investigate the allegations of corruption against him. Unsurprisingly he was cleared.

Citizens of the country listening to Zuma’s address and reading about it later, were horrified, not because he was vindicated by this thorough team of investigators, but because the President had the audacity to take a gathering of international leaders for the fools he takes his own flock. Once again Zuma had shown not only his own countrymen the middle finger, but the rest of the world as well.

Eh eh eh eh eh…

Update: Found a recording of the WEF address by Jacob Zuma. Don’t you think Schwab, to the right of Zuma, is trying very hard to keep a straight face? The rest of us couldn’t.

To be or not to be… a dictator

While our cricketers were being humbled in the World Cup down under by New Zealand, our President was toying with the idea of becoming a dictator.

If you’re wondering how these two events are connected – they’re not. It’s just that both our President and our cricketers were a major disappointment yesterday, with the former being a permanent one.

While most will have people laughed off Jacob Zuma’s idiotic contemplation, some of us were a tad bit jittery, this being Africa, a continental clusterfuck of downright autocratic and pseudo-democratic governments. Talk here in South Africa of dictatorship by the ruling circus clown should never be taken too lightly.

Zuma may be a giggling, incompetent, lying, corrupt leader who somehow always comes off as likeable to the voting fodder, he harbours a dark side that very few people get to see. I caught a glimpse of it once on television when he was engulfed by a horde of reporters and cameramen, and I recognized it instantly. He is most certainly capable of transforming into a full-blown dictator.

But why would Zuma want to become a dictator, even if for one year as he facetiously “requested” in the South African Local Government Association summit in Midrand? He has everything going for him.

(a) He has this uncanny knack of fooling everyone into thinking they have a fully functioning democracy.

(b) The majority of the voting public being somewhat credulous, are tripping over each other to vote for him.

(c) He has twisted practically every arm of the law and judiciary to serve his every whim and folly.

(d) He can spout utter rubbish and the majority of the people lap it up unquestioningly.

So why? Is it possible that he senses that the tide is turning and that things will no longer be going his way. Are more and more of his former supporters and lap-dogs slowly but surely recognizing what a huge liability he is?

I think so…

The Third Force. Shudder!

It’s election year in South Africa, and the polling date of 07 May has just been announced. Which means that electioneering by the opposing political parties and their henchmen kicks into overdrive. Meanwhile…

There has been a remarkable upsurge in violent protests by residents of various towns over poor to zero service delivery. You know, the simple stuff like running water, the winning party promised in the last elections but either failed to deliver for one or more reasons, or couldn’t be bothered to.

We could speculate why the government did not deliver on these services, but there is ample reason to believe (from massive evidence) that it is a direct result of corruption, nepotism and downright incompetence.

But wait for the response of the government cronies… A Third Force is involved. Yes, a Third Fucking Force. They would have us believe that the protests are not about service delivery, but that a sinister force is stoking the flames of protest and instigating people to demonstrate violently and provoking anger and resentment towards the ruling government. They don’t actually say that certain opposition parties are responsible, but they’re not exactly telling you it’s aliens from Planet X, either. The implied accusation is plain to see.

That’s pretty lame and unimaginative coming from the current government. The previous apartheid regime used the very same scare tactic to entrench apartheid, then the ANC resurrected it over recent years, only to breathe new life into it just as we enter the final straight to elections. Through nearly 20 years of being in power they just couldn’t think of a new excuse with which to mask their failings.

However the thing that astounds me the most is that these same protesters will vote into power the same henchmen all over again. They’ve done it before. There’s some pretty screwed up psychology involved here.

Or maybe they’ll astound me yet again, and do the right thing this time around. One can live with hope.

Update:

This just in. While a government official was being interviewed on State Television about the poor state of the roads, an accident is captured on camera. You just can’t make this shit up.

Black Consciousness Leader Calls for President Zuma to Resign

Just when I thought that I was done with politics for the week, things start getting interesting again…

The Reverend Barney Pityana, a former leader in the Black Consciousness Movement with Steve Biko, has called for President Jacob Zuma to resign in an open letter. Pityana who presided over the South African Human Rights Commission between 1995 and 2001, wrote at great length:

I write this letter with a simple request: that you resign from all public office, especially that of President and Head of State of the Republic of South Africa.

I am, of course, aware that you have been re-elected President of the African National Congress, the majority party in our National Assembly. I am also aware that, in terms of our electoral system, that allows the ANC to present you as a candidate to the National Assembly and use their majority therein to put you in office, without much ado. It would also appear that by its recent vote the African National Congress has expressed confidence in your leadership. You can then understand that I am taking an extraordinary step, and I can assure you one that has been carefully considered, in asking for your resignation.

Our country is in shambles, and the quality of life of millions of ordinary South Africans is deteriorating. Confidence in our country, and its economic and political system, is at an all-time low. There is reason to believe that ordinary South Africans have no trust in your integrity as a leader, or in your ability to lead and guide a modern constitutional democracy that we aspire to become. That, notwithstanding the fact that our Constitution puts very minimal requirements for qualification as a public representative including the highly esteemed office of President and Head of State, and Head of the Executive. What is clear, at the very least, is that the President must have the means and the inclination to promote and defend the Constitution, and uphold the well being of all South Africans. I have reason to believe that, notwithstanding the confidence that your party has placed on you, you have demonstrated that you no longer qualify for this high office on any of the counts stated above…

The immediate question in my mind is whether Zuma’s resignation will be enough to arrest the slide this country is currently in? I think not. The rot does not stop with him. It is so deep and pervasive, that a simple excision may not be enough.

The proper thing would be for the entire cabinet to resign en-masse. With the exception of a handful of Ministers and Deputy Ministers, this cabinet is without question one of the most incompetent we have ever had, and I include apartheid era bureaucrats as well. Coupled with incompetence, this administration has been embroiled in far too many scandals involving corruption, cronyism, disdain for the electorate, and gross arrogance.

I believe that there are still enough people of good moral fibre and competence left in this organization to take over the reigns. Oh yes, their will be turmoil for a while, but we as citizens need to bite the bullet for a short while, in the quest for a better country – one that was promised us by Nelson Mandela, who we honour this week after his sad passing away.

Government School For Cronies

The ANC’s ability to stumble to new lows of depravity never ceases to amaze me. We watch and listen helplessly as on a daily basis they either blatantly deny their acts of corruption, nepotism and gross incompetence, excuse them by drawing out the race card or blaming their failings on apartheid.

This week Public Service and Administration Minister Lindiwe Sisulu announced that they will be establishing their “own government school in order to improve skills, ethics and professionalism in the public sector.” As reported in this online website:

This school will educate, train, professionalise and develop a highly capable, skilled, socially and committed public service cadreship with a sense of national duty and a common culture and ethos.

Note her own use of the term “cadreship.” If this is not an open admission that the ruling government deploys their own ANC cronies to cram public service positions, I don’t know what is. It is also a further admission that the cadres they have already deployed into key public administrative posts, have failed and require the skills which they have identified, and which they have previously denied not having.

While we have established and reputable institutes that produce trained (theoretically at least) people of all race groups, not to mention already skilled and experienced people from the business sector, the ANC will not recruit them, simply because they are intent on acquiring “yes men” who will toe the Party line first. To the ANC, service delivery has always been of secondary importance. The Party comes first.

And so now the taxpayer will have to foot the bill for this unnecessary extravagance in support of ongoing cronyism.

One can only hope that the pass mark for these cadres will not be 30%, as is the current norm in our ANC designed education system.

The most expensive WordPress template in the world?

Would you pay a web development company R40m [$4.41m] to create a website for you? Surely not!

That’s what the Free State Provincial Government [which is led by the African National Congress] in South Africa, forked out to a web development agency which strangely does not even have their own website. Actually the amount is in dispute, with the Provincial government claiming it was R40m while the newspaper that leaked the story reported an astounding R140m.

But that’s not all. It appears that the designers used a WordPress theme called London Live, to create the website which goes for $40, or at the latest exchange rate, around 362 South African Rands. [Read one such report here].

That makes London Live, the most expensive template ever designed… or there are some serious shenanigans at work here. If you consider that WordPress themes are really easy to use and one need not be an expert at using a CMS to make design changes, it would take an experienced web designer a few days or less to create a really stunning site. So either the design agency has pulled off the mother of all web-design con jobs, or there’s some sort of fraud involved here.

With the ANC having a well-known history of fraud and corruption up to the highest levels in government, I’m going with MASSIVE FRAUD.

_____________________________

Update, 13 March 2013:

The woman who handed out this ludicrous tender to the design agency, a Director-General at the time, has been promoted by the Provincial Premier to Minister of Finance. Now don’t this beat all?

Is your President as contemptible as ours?

I felt rather vomitus today after digesting yet more revelations about our scandalous President in the media.

I think we’ve become immune to the daily exposés about President Jacob Zuma’s depraved life, because they usually come in small doses. I think South Africans are beyond being shocked and disgusted by his loathsome behaviour. We’re just exhausted learning about every nasty bit of larcenous, incompetent and immoral deed he’s done since taking office.

Off course it all started before he took office. And today’s revelations touch on some of these, and so much more. So much more…

Auditors KPMG have compiled a 500-page report on the alleged acts of corruption that Zuma has been involved in dating back to 2006. Follow all the links provided on this news article posted in the online version of the Mail & Guardian.

What many South Africans are disgusted with though, is the apparent impotence of the various arms of the law and justice system to do anything about it. Even more galling is the prospect of living another 5 years under the (mis)rule of this miscreant. By all accounts he’s clearly manipulated his way (with acts of violence in some reported cases) into securing the vote to remain head of the ANC, which in effect guarantees him the Presidency at the next elections. Unless off course the masses who vote for the ANC with crass predictability, have a sudden rush of comprehension (by whatever miracle), and vote for Opposition Parties.

In light of the above, the rather candid admission by a senior ANC official that ordinary ANC members are mere “voting cattle” whose main purpose seems to be to keep the elite in power, is even more infuriating. However, this is perhaps the most honest thing we’ve heard from the ANC in many years, but is very disturbing all the same.

Looks like troubled times ahead for South Africa. Is there a Banana Republic on the horison?

An Open Letter to Those Who Voted ANC

Dear South African voter,

This letter is aimed especially at you, you… and you. Yes, you who voted for the ANC repeatedly since 1994 – even after the whiff of the rotting carcass became overpowering.

There, there! It’s all right! I guess you couldn’t possibly know how many maggots were crawling around and living off that putrefying pile of pus. But now you do, don’t you?

You got your democracy. And it felt satisfying. Funny thing that. Really no better than a monarchy or aristocracy or dictatorship when managed by madmen, or power-hungry revolutionaries. But hey, it sounds less evil than apartheid, right? And why not? You get the satisfaction of seeing Black people go one up on the Whities for perpetrating acts of gross insanity.

How could you know that the politicians selected by the party, pretending to represent you, would grow fat with such ease on the taxes that you pissed stones to contribute to the country? How could you know that the treasury could spring so many leaks while in the control of the ANC? Why should reports of their profligate spending of R5 billion on catering, travel and entertainment be such a big deal? Even fat farks deserve a little pampering, right? And you can’t trust these Whitie newspapers to tell the truth, can you?

So R5 billion could have been used to build 1000’s of houses and pay for some services too. So what? It’s only Whities who are complaining. They’ve all got houses and services. They should all just shut the fark up and let us get on with not having any. Right?

Wait! What!

Are you seriously okay with being an average plonker who’s content with things as they are? Well, are you? Do you know how you’re affecting me with your antipathy, stupidity, or ignorance. Even if you don’t care about me, I do. But what about your children?

Are you also content to see them inherit a country ruined by ANC arrogance, incompetence and greed? Well? Are you?

You know what you need to do at the next elections. Don’t fark up again!

Up Yours,

Lenny

More on Motshekga

I have written previously about this vile woman, but it seems she is not quite done yet with her acts of unbelievable stupidity…

Angie Motshekga, Minister of Basic Education continues to baffle us all with the levels of depravity, incompetence and utter idiocy she is capable off achieving. In the month of August which South Africa has dedicated to honouring woman, she has chosen to show the world that she can be the worst possible example to humanity, let alone womanhood.

Motshekga is all set to contest NGO Equal Education’s application to the High Court forcing her to promulgate legislation that sets out norms and standards for school infrastructure, which will both compel and hold the government accountable to meet those standards. Apparently she intends using the ludicrous defense that the Constitution does not guarantee children the right to basic education, and that both the budget and resources are inadequate.

That is utterly absurd if you put it in context against the recent (undeserved) 5% salary hike that the government awarded itself, and the fact that they are spending billions where it is least needed. Not to mention the shambolic manner in which her Ministry is being run; what with textbooks being undelivered more than 6 months into the school year, ghost teachers on the payroll and various other forms of maladministration that characterize the Education portfolio. Then there’s the rampant corruption all arms of government are  contentedly engaged in, with the un-mistaken approval of the ANC-government leadership.  Should we even mention, the government’s partner-in-mismanagement, labour union SADTU’s role in destroying education in South Africa?

Wikipedia

Motshekga seems not only determined to follow through on this path of ignominy she has set for herself, she is arrogant beyond measure about sticking it out in spite of the howls of protest from all quarters. It seems that she is hell-bent on competing with President Jacob Zuma and Julius Malema for the title of scumbag of the decade.

But the most baffling thing about this whole saga is the seeming disinterest and apathy from the majority of the Black population whose children are most affected. The same people very quickly formed a mob to lynch an artist whom they were misled into believing had insulted the honour of the President, but cannot raise so much as a whimper to save the honour of their own children. What a sad state of affairs and a telling indictment on their mentality.

Thank god that Motshekga is not Minister of Higher Education too. We seriously cannot afford to have all forms of education totally fucked up. Unfortunately though, the Higher Education Ministry has another palooka in charge, and he’s busy doing a bang-up job of reducing it to the same pathetic level as Basic Education. But that’s another story…