Category: Current Affairs

According to this article on News24, smacking your child is now a criminal offence, punishable by a minimum fine of R300.  I don’t get it.  In my opinion, and as I’ve stated earlier, a good smack on the butt is still the number one ear opener for any child.  I’ve grown up with it, and my kids will grow up with it.  The government is trying to get people to stop abusing and degrading children, and I agree that it has to stop, but they’re going about it in the wrong way.

At this point, the law makes it easy for undisciplined teens to get back at their parents for something they deserved in the first place.

Government needs to change this law urgently!  A parent should not be prosecuted for disciplining their children, unless they are doing it in the wrong way.

And for the offenders that should be prosecuted, a R300 fine is not a deterrent to stop abusing their children, and the children would probably be too scared to report their parents anyway, knowing that the moment the parent gets back from paying the fine, there will be hell to pay.

If someone is abusing a child, the child should be taken away, without the option of getting the child back ever.  That would be more of a deterrent than a small fine.

The fired deputy minister of health has been asked to repay the money spent on her unauthorised trip to Spain.  So far the only figure I heard was for the money spent on flights, R312,000.  No, not Zim Dollar, South African Rand!

Now, I can iunderstand a government minister flying first class, but why should her son and advisor fly first class as well.  Actually, I changed my mind, I don't see any reason for anyone to fly first class with my tax money.  How many people could you have built houses for with that fare?  At least 10 families with the price of a low cost house.

I just tried to book tickets to Spain for 3 adults on SAA's website, at a cost of R147,000 for 3 people in Business Class, apparently First class is not available on the route.  Now assuming that our government uses it's own carrier at specially arranged prices, why was the deputy minister's fare more than double this amount?

Some food for thought… 

 

PS. 

I just tried to book first class tickets on BA for the same route, and there I could get it for just under R60K for 3 adults, why would SAA be double the price for cheaper the seats as well? 

The only deduction I can make from this, is that the management of SA Rugby have some serious underlying issues that they are trying to hide.  You cannot forbid someone to have a meeting in their personal capacity with anyone, let alone the president of the country.

And to then state that Jake is "undermining the Minister of Sport", is pure BS.  This from the same person that wanted to confiscate the bok team's passports because the mix of players wasn't to his personal liking.

Come on mister President, I think it's time you put an end to the political crap that is going on in our sport.  The moment all politics are dropped, and the best teams are fielded in all our sports, whether they are black, white or pink, it will be a greater unifying moment than what any team selected on demographics would ever be. 

This statement by a senior provincial politician embodies what is currently wrong with our country.  And the people on the street learn their bad habits from this.

The politician's motorcade was driving too fast, just another person that's supposed to set an example,  but that thinks he is above the law.  And when a white person takes him on about breaking the law, he immediately falls back on the old "Apartheid"/"You're hassling me because I'm black" excuse.

You can seriously stop with that now, we're hassling you because you're not above the law, and you should start setting an example for your people.

In my opinion, the moment our population stop attaching anything remotely racist to normal comments, our country will be a much better place.

Link to 'It is because I am black': South Africa: News: News24

Is this the best you can do?  Another 500 fat, lazy (ok, not all of them, but a lot) people to manage speed traps and check that no-one is talking on a cellphone while driving.

Get real, that's not what we need.  We need visible policing, to stop our road carnage, as well as the out-of-control crime rate in our country.

We should really look at automated speed traps, and get the Metro cops to start doing their work.  I see hundreds of taxis (mostly) and other cars skipping red traffic lights every week.  These are in a few hot spots around the city, which the Metro Police know about, but do nothing about, it is much easier to just sit behind a speed camera than to actually pull someone over.

I challenge the management of Jo'burg and the Metro Police to do better than this. 

Link to Crime plan for Joburg: South Africa: News: News24

 The ID has stated that Eskom's CEO should not get his bonus this year, because he has not sorted out the issues at the parastatal.

I think you're way to easy on him and his whole management team.  They've proven beyond doubt that they cannot manage the company, and the problems aren't the same as last year, they are getting worse.  The fact that the CEO got a bonus last year, measured in millions, is appalling!

Replace the whole top structure with people qualified for the job, so that our country can start growing.

Link to FIN24 : Empowering Financial Decisions