Staggering Out Over The Abyss

[Capetonian]

Mention of Monty Python being banned in ZA during apartheid on another thread reminds me this Eddie Grant song :

[Woody]

19.5 R to the £ this morning

[ian16th]

19.5 R to the £ this morning

R14.88 : $1

[Capetonian]

What's significant is that it's moved form 18.8 to 19.5 in the last few days, and sterling has not strengthened that much against majors.
Whilst it's fine for people such as Woody (and me) it's making life increasingly difficult for many people in ZA.

[ian16th]

I think that the SAA/Eskom birds are coming home to roost. And the current rounds of 'load shedding' aren't helping.

The Government Pension Fund members are moaning about their money being put into SAA.

Socialism is only in favour when it is spending someone else's money!

[Capetonian]

Yes, socialism, as I have tried to explain to my son, is fine when your sucking on its tit.
When it's the other way round, it's not such a good idea.

[Capetonian]

Thirty years ago today, FW de Klerk was president of a very different South Africa – one still governed by laws, and mindsets, intent on keeping white and black divided, unequal and ultimately apart.

On February 2, 1990, De Klerk, who was and still is a complicated figure of the country's political past and present, made a significant speech which would set South Africa down a different path.


Was he a visionary? Was he pushed into making an announcement as the walls closed in on apartheid? Should he be hailed or is he only worthy of begrudging recognition?



The last white leader: FW de Klerk and the disputed legacy of an apartheid president
Exactly thirty years ago today FW de Klerk, who had been president of South Africa for barely five months, made an announcement that broke political deadlock and led the country out of centuries of conflict and into an era of negotiation and democracy. His legacy though remains deeply contested, writes Pieter du Toit.


Former president FW de Klerk today. (Media24 Archives)

De Klerk's February moment was preceded by two other key turning points, says former minister
Former National Party (NP) cabinet minister Leon Wessels believes that although former president FW de Klerk's dramatic address to Parliament on February 2, 1990, was the big breakthrough everyone was waiting for, it was preceded by two events without which De Klerk would not have been able to move as far and as quickly as he did.

Van links na regs is oudpres. FW de Klerk, Roelf M
FW de Klerk listening to Roelf Meyer while Leon Wessels looks on, during the multiparty negotiations in 1992. (Media24 Archive)



Mac Maharaj: 'De Klerk a man of the moment, Mandela the man of history'
Maharaj decries the narrow narrative – "we take the SA experience and limit it to Codesa, the constitution making and to the TRC" – and suggests that, for him, 1984 to 1990 was the most crucial period in making a negotiated path to democracy and the future possible.

ANC-president Nelson Mandela en staatspresident FW
FW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela after a meeting between the National Party government and the ANC in 1990. (Gallo Images)

Pieter du Toit: What Cyril Ramaphosa can learn from FW de Klerk
President Cyril Ramaphosa and former president FW de Klerk come from different sides of the political divide, but both faced complex problems which required (and for the former, still does) vision and determination. Maybe there are some lessons Ramaphosa can take from De Klerk and his history making parliamentary address of February 2, 1990, writes Pieter du Toit.


Then-ANC secretary general Cyril Ramaphosa, former president Nelson Mandela, and then-deputy president FW de Klerk speak to the press after their meeting on the issue of the Constitution on April 28, 1996. (Photo by Gallo Images/Business Day/Robert Botha)

[Capetonian]

I watched an interview this morning on SABC News Channel with F W de Klerk, a wise and prescient man, diplomatic as ever. You had to read between the lines of what he said.

[Capetonian]

https://www.businessinsider.co.za/anglo ... ica-2020-2

AngloGold has sold its last remaining assets in South Africa.
The company has its roots in Anglo American, which was started as a gold mining company by Ernest Oppenheimer in 1917.
Other large multinational companies are exiting the country due to load shedding and regulatory uncertainty.

[Capetonian]

Mboweni’s Budget unlikely to stop SA’s march to junk, say economists https://www.fin24.com/Budget/mbowenis-b ... k-20200224

The country goes slowly down the tubes.

[Capetonian]

One does wonder how this can happen.

Eskom has cut power to PRASA, the train operating company, meaning that the Western Cape (at least) now has no rail service. People who are unfortunate enough to have to use the miserable, filthy, and unreliable trains went to work this morning with tickets that they thought would get them home tonight. The roads are gridlocked, taxis for the masses are dangerous, overloaded, and unreliable, and ditto for the buses.

A really sad state of affairs, brought about by PRASA not paying Eskom, and possibly PRASA's troubles partially brought about by people riding the trains without paying.

"On average 590 000 commuters use our trains each weekday to get to work and back."

https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News ... t-20200227

[Woody]

Can’t see how this is going to help, but you never know.

https://www.capetownetc.com/news/shutsa ... of-action/

[Woody]

https://www.capetownetc.com/news/men-ca ... ape-beach/

[Capetonian]

I read this morning that government of Zimbabwe had paid its debt to Eskom. I can't find the piece now so I assume it was an April Fool.

[TheGreenGoblin]

Coronavirus: Top South African HIV scientist Gita Ramjee dies

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52120265

The HIV researcher fell ill after returning to South Africa in mid-March from the UK, where she had been presenting at a symposium at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

She held an honorary professorship at the LSHTM, as well as at the University of Washington and the University of Cape Town.

Two years ago she was given the Outstanding Female Scientist Award by the European Development Clinical Trials Partnerships.

[ian16th]

[G-CPTN]

Is that good? (who for?)

[Woody]

Is that good? (who for?)

Me, but I can’t get out there to spend it

[ian16th]

Is that good? (who for?)

If one has USD/GBP/EUR or is earning/being paid in any of them, it makes living here cheaper till the local prices catch up.

It is a help for UK pensioners that live here, but doesn't make up for the pensions being frozen.

[ian16th]

Is that good? (who for?)

Me, but I can’t get out there to spend it

But whats it done to the value of your SA property?

The value of my 3 bed, 2 bath, double garage, detached house wouldn't buy me a dog kennel in most of the UK.