Corruption top to bottom

Civil servants are living large, and spending taxpayers money like there is no tomorrow.

Corruption in government is rampant and parastatals have become cash cows for administrators to live large. If administrators are not busy mismanaging municipal funds, they are busy with parastatals or government departments.

It came as a shock to learn that about R1 billion from the Gauteng provincial health department cannot be properly accounted for. It's not surprising that the department is in such financial disarray; that's because the people who govern us do not care about our wellbeing. Former GP health MEC, Brian Hlongwa, did his job half-heartedly while at the helm of he GP health department, hence the corruption that happened under his nose. He didn’t give a fig about the shenanigans in the department because his business were making money than what the department paid him.

Hlongwa bought a house for R7.2 million. It makes you wonder, looking at the money that cannot be accounted for by the Gauteng Health department. It seems GP health is not the only one.

The guys at the land bank are having it good spending money that was meant to assist poor farmers. In an intriguing expose (see report) of how the some smart land bank employees allegedly siphoned off money meant for the AgriBee fund to buy businesses, cars and expensive houses. Mismanagement of funds is everywhere, it was the SABC, then Eskom, corruption is everywhere in state departments. The department of correctional services has awarded a tender to a company under investigation by the Special Investigating Unit, and a director of that company was appointed national intelligence head.

The administrators and corrupt politicians are wasting our money while the government wants us to pay hefty Eskom electricity tariffs. The service delivery strikes that have hit some municipalities will surely continue as long as we are led by incompetent, corrupt leaders and self serving leaders.

SAFA not proudly South African

Will South Africa make it to the quarterfinals of the 2010 Soccer World Cup? The Brazilian coach, Joel Santana has been sacked and another Brazilian coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira has been appointed.

Parreira left the job of coaching Bafana Bafana a few months ago, citing family commitments; and he recommended Joel Santana who failed to make any significant improvement to the national squad.

I wonder why Parreira was re-appointed; why the obsession with Brazilian coaches? It means the South African Football Federation (SAFA) is not proudly South African. I don't think Bafana's perfomance would improve because of Parreira's appointment, but I do believe a South African coach would do a much better job and our nation would improve.

I'm eager to see if the team's performance would improve in the next three games, but the real challenge is whether we will make it past round one of the world cup. Looking at our performance at the moment, I think we will be out in round one.

Nice day, nice mobi blogging

It's been cloudy from this morning, and around 2pm rain started pouring. The weather's is cool indeed, the kind I like. The only thing missing from the equation is my family. If I was home I would obviously spend the day in bed, asking for tea with cakes while teaching my daughter how to read and write. It's true; east or west, home is best. I'm very tired, I think I should forthwith retire to sleep so that I can dream about home, my woman and daughter. It was great blogging from my phone. I have sent tweets and updated my Facebook profile from my phone, so it was high time I got myself used to mobile blogging.

Inmate couch potato

Being a prisoner seems like going on a holiday.

According to a news report published on news24.com prison officials were taken to task by the correctional services potforlio committee for hiring a company to clean after prisoners and another to fix TV's in prisons.

It seems that the prisoners spend the whole day watching TV while hired cleaners tidy up for them. And when the TV's are not working technicians who are hired by the department of correctional services come and fix the TVs.

The chair of the correctional services portfolio committee, Vincent Smith, asked if they hired a company to clean for the prisoners and repair TV's for them while they (prisoners)sit the whole day doing nothing but watch TV.

It is no wonder some people don't mind to readily commit crimes. They know they will go to prison to laze around and become couch potatoes. The Diepkloof Prison is even known as Sun City Prison.

The recession has made life a bit difficult for me, so I'm simply gonna still steal a roasted mutton leg from Pick n Pay even though I don't eat meat and casually walk out of the shop so that I can get arrested. I wanna eat free, laze around, watch TV (though I'm not a TV fan) at taxpayer's expense.

South Africa is going left

Some people appear to be alarmed at the influence Cosatu and the SACP are exerting on the ANC. Both the labour federation and the communists have a vested interest in the ANC and by extension the running of the country. At the heart of the battle is the country’s macro-economic policy. Over the years the two organisations, which together with the ANC constitute the Tripartite Alliance, have complained about marginalisation during the era of Thabo Mbeki’s presidency.

Mbeki told the SACP plainly during the ANC policy conference before the Polokwane congress that the SACP should not delegate it’s goal of bringing about a socialist revolution to the ANC. In its congress resolutions and general meetings the SACP encourages it’s members to “swell the ranks of the ANC” in order to ensure that the ANC is influenced by the working class and not business interests. The ANC is said to be a broad church that represents civic leaders, business people, the working class, religious people, the poor and communists who were united by the objective of overthrowing apartheid and building a non-racial society. But the communists are the ones who are supposed to ensure that they give leadership and policy direction, and that is the reason they are encouraged to hold both the SACP and ANC membership, known as dual membership.

And now that apartheid has been defeated and there is no common enemy to fight a struggle has ensued within the ruling party and its allies for control of resources and to shape the economy of the country, which is largely owned by mostly white monopoly capital. Thabo Mbeki marginalised the two Tripartite Alliance partners, hence it was imperative to get rid of him and find a person who is malleable and whom the leaders of the working class could discuss policy issues with, and if need be instruct on what socio-economic policy the country should follow. The communist party’s aim is to lead the revolution for a socialist state and it needs a mass based organisation like the ANC to ensure it keeps its socialist agenda alive. Without the people behind them the SACP will be unpopular, and the ANC has the support of the majority of South Africans. It is not surprising that the current crop of SACP leaders do not see a socialist revolution ushered through the electoral platform but rather by swelling the ranks of the ANC. For this reason they have continuously sidestepped suggestions that the SACP must contest elections, and opted to emphasise the alliance with the Tripartite Alliance as paramount.

Those who are afraid of a left leaning ANC should brace themselves for more vigorous control of the ANC by the Cosatu and the SACP. The battle begun before Polokwane with the push for Jacob Zuma to become president and continues with the drive for Ebrahim Patel, the minister of economic development, to be given more powers and the attempts to subdue Trevor Manuel’s influence in president Zuma’s cabinet. Manuel is seen as one of the people who introduced the macro-economic policies that the communists and the labour federation leaders opposed. He is the last person they want to stand on their way as they assert their influence in government and shape government policy.

As things stand, it looks like Zuma is not willing to stand up to the communists and working class leaders like Mbeki did, and no one within the ANC dare challenge the left as they gain influence in the running of the country, appointment of ministers and the economy of the country. It remains to be seen how long Zuma will continue to give in to the leaders of the SACP and Cosatu before he tells them to back off.