He may be rude, but Trump at least gets it done
WHEN I watch TV news bulletins and read newspaper headlines I can’t help wonder whether South Africa is heading for a Donald Trump moment. The world looks in astonishment at America’s choice of leader. The question people ask is “what were they thinking?”
He’s loud, rough, rude and he fires anybody who disagrees with him. I found the answer in an American political column. The writer said: “For years the politicians have done nothing for us. The people were tired of useless political leaders so they voted for somebody who (was) clearly not a politician.”
Whether you agree with Trump’s actions or not, you have to admit he gets things done.
In South Africa, the people are obviously angry. In recent weeks, we have seen major protests, strikes, marches and land grabs across the country. The response of our leaders is typical of the way politicians act. “We are deeply concerned,” they say, “and we are addressing the problem as a matter of urgency.” The usual way politicians “address a matter” is to start with a commission of inquiry.
This requires several high-level meetings to decide who will sit on the commission, then a few more meetings to ascertain where the funding will come from to pay the commissioners. A parliamentary subcommittee will be appointed to set out the terms of reference for the commission and to decide which state department is actually involved in the problem.
Three months after the problem has been identified, the state is finally ready to “look into” it. Of course, politicians can’t be expected to know all about matters such as building cheap houses or installing sewers, so they have to appoint “consultants”, who naturally must be paid generously for their expertise.
Meanwhile, the people who are actually suffering from the problem have become totally frustrated and angry, have destroyed two schools, a library and a suburban train. These will probably require a further commission of inquiry.
The Trump solution is to call in an engineer and say: “Build a housing development here and have it completed by the end of next month. Get it done – I don’t care how – and if it’s not done, you’re fired.”
Not surprisingly, his system seems to work. It makes people very cross and gets him called rude names, but he doesn’t care a hoot.
Meanwhile, our politicians are too busy bad-mouthing each other and appointing commissions of inquiry to have time to get anything done, so maybe we voters should be looking around for successful businessmen and women who get things done without politics. Elections are not too far way.
Last Laugh
After being on holiday for two weeks over the Christmas season a woman returned to her flat and found an envelope taped to her front door. Inside was a Christmas card with the message: “Happy Christmas from your janitor.”
The woman was touched by the kind thought. A week later she found another envelope on her door with another Christmas card inside. This time the message said: “Happy Christmas from your janitor. Second notice.”