Archive for November, 2008
Sunday, November 30th, 2008
Tim du Plessis the editor at Rapport newspaper discussed the scenario of Trevor Manuel as deputy president of the republic, on John Maytham’s Cape Talk radio show today.
The very idea seems so obviously brilliant now that it has been spoken, even though the thought had never crossed my mind.
Jacob Zuma’s presidency (which I hope will remain Kgalema Montlanthe’s presidency) could become a lot more palatable with Trevor as second in charge.
The discussion came about because of an article (Afrikaans) Du Plessis wrote in Rapport on 29/11/2008 of Maria Ramos’ new job as head of South Africa’s largest banking group ABSA being in conflict with her romantic partner’s position as Minister of Finance.
The editor of Rapport felt that the Finance Minister’s term – loyalty to the country notwithstanding – has to come to and end after 10 years to give a fresh perspective to the position.
Instead of upsetting the markets (again), having Manuel as Deputy President would instead create a possible Obama moment, according Tim du Plessis.
Now that’s change I can definitely believe in!
Posted in election 2009, politics | 2 Comments »
Saturday, November 29th, 2008
Friday when I tuned in to Redi Direko’s show on Capetalk Nic Rabinowitz, there was Nic Rabinowitz the comedian doing political jokes.
As with jokes and comedians some things were funny and some jokes fell flat, but at least he tried. Politicians deserve having the mickey taken out of them since they seem to take themselves far too seriously.
We need political comedy…badly. We need it on radio, but more crucially on tv in the form of skits like Saturday Night Live, in the form of political satire like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart or even on talk shows very unlike 3Talk!
Politics is seriously funny…just look at them…Zuma, Lekota, Malema, Zille, De Lille…all great comedy material.
Give Pieter Dirk Uys another turn on tv and let him and Evita Bezuidenhout loose on the public. Please forget political correctness and sacred cows. Just be bitingly funny.
Come on people like Zapiro who do impossibly on the button satirical stuff write something for David Kau, Marc Lottering, Irit Noble and Nic Raboniwitz amongst others.
You know what they say, if you don’t laugh, you cry.
Posted in politics | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 26th, 2008
Why is the media so obsessed with Julius Malema?
The man has proven to be nothing but a windbag spouting off a lot of nonsense, but nearly every single day (weekends included) something gets written about him.
As far as anyone can tell Malema has no power base of his own in the ANC hierarchy and only serves a purpose when someone wants the Youth League’s vote, same as the Communist Party and Cosatu. Who does he really speak for? If it’s for the youth of SA, then we are in serious trouble!
So far we have not heard Julius Malema say anything that warrants all the attention he receives on a nearly daily basis. His rants are made with no apparent thought or reasoning, but the next day the airwaves are buzzing and newspaper headlines blasting with the latest Malema quote.
We don’t have huge scandalous celebrities (Steve Hofmeyer excepted) so the media builds Malema into a political figure of note to sell their stories.
What would we talk about if Malema applied his mind to his (apparent) UNISA law degree studies, instead of talking nonsense? What would the media report on?
Kgalema Montlanthe is far too into running the country and Jacob Zuma is doing is best to look presidential (without a modicum of success). Thabo Mbeki is doing his quiet diplomacy thing with Mugabe and Tsvangirai in Pretoria somewhere.
How would we make next year’s election interesting if the Britney Spears of South African youth league politics suddenly never says another word in public?
COPE was just fun for a little while, then we noticed that we’ve seen them all before.
Perhaps the media should stop courting Malema for more rubbish talk and let him concentrate on improving on his matric results or maybe he will do as the rest of us and just create a blog and then spout all the nonsense he can think of.
Posted in politics | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, November 26th, 2008
Gifts4Good.co.za is a charitable gift giving website in South Africa. It makes giving to the less fortunate a fast and easy process during the holiday season and throughout the year.
Anyone can easily choose gifts from R50 to R5000 and donate to a charity of your choice.
Gifts of R50 include one of a Food Garden starter kit, stationery supplies in the form of Pencils and Crayons for young children, Home-based Care Kits for people suffering from HIV or a Birth Certificate for orphaned children, amongst others.
A R100 gift could vaccinate a child, purchase an HIV test kit, a family food parcel or bed for an animal.
For more information and for making a donation gift, visit the Gifts4Good Website.
Many charities struggle during economic downturns, but charitable gifting in lieu of corporate gifts and staff gifts can be turned into valuable giving opportunities.
It is also a great time to teach children the value of giving to others less fortunate.
Posted in community | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 26th, 2008
This week’s one day R1.00 no reserve auction on Bidorbuy is for a Mercedes-Benz CLK320 Cabriolet.
Go directly to the auction page fto place your bid or to view a picture of the car and more details.
The vehicle’s book value is R350 000, but my guess is it will go for R230 000.
Posted in auctions | No Comments »
.jpg)
