My favourite question to ask the boys in my home is; “What do I hate?”
To which they reply; “Being Right!”
All those are in the context of decisions that they make on a daily basis that will influence just what type of men they will grow up to be.
I couldn’t help but think of these little conversations the boys and I have after reading a from the heart posting on Group Sex for Amoebas (Facebook) by Mandla Madwara who served Nelson Mandela Bay in the times of Nceba Faku, Errol Heynes and the ‘gang’.
One portion of Mandla’s musings read as follows; “Notably, our administration implemented a pioneering programme to assist the poor with service payments, achieved a collection rate of 95-97%, people such as Danny Christian, Mrs Makunga, Makhaya Jack, Vermeulen lead from the front in making sure we maintained the revenue collection, we attained AAA rating with a strong credit rating, and maintained substantial reserves. We also invested in electrification projects, tarred pavements, and walkways in the townships , while ensuring diligent infrastructure maintenance. We balanced our budget every years and produced financial statements to illustrate the state of our City and as a consequence, banks approached us for further financing.”
Now what struck me was the real reason why our present crop of grave robbers and Louis Vuitton influencers will stay in power.
No, it will not be as a result of a couple of T-Shirts and boxes of KFC.
No, it will not be as a result of BEE.
No, it will not be as a result of those ’emergency tenders’.
No, it will not be as a result of their historic position as the saviour of our people.
It is so much simpler than that and goes to the following; “Ask your township dwelling employees about electricity. Don’t come straight out and assume that they do not pay for electricity – rather look for those tell-tale sentences that start with these words: ‘When we used to pay for electricity!'”
I get the feeling that every single person who does not pay for electricity and still has use thereof will only vote for the thieves in charge. After all would YOU vote for someone that you know is going to come and collect more money from you?
I doubt it.
At the end of the day the government in charge has found a way to make ordinary citizens pay for their political promotion through ever increasing electricity tariffs.
I sincerely hope that in this case I will be proven WRONG.
