Wise utterances, actions lacking in Gordhan saga
IT IS not surprising that the president says he has no powers to stop the SARS and Gordhan saga – he has never been responsible for any mishap in government, generally.
We all know that this has everything to do with the SAA bailout, nuclear funding and other amenities that may be accessible if Gordhan is out of the picture, just like Des van Rooyen suggested when he was appointed in December after getting rid of Nhlanhla Nene.
Interesting to note though that, regardless of any repercussions, the president is still hellbent on fighting for control of the lucrative department.
The second opposition party wants Gordhan to face the full might of the law because its leader, Juju, has been there too.
No amount of facts or lack of will ever deter them.
They are now using the same rhetoric as the secretary-general of the ANC when he was reprimanding the markets for being too sensitive about small issues.
They are still losing the plot as it happened in parliament when they were supposed to engage the government on serious issues and chose to bang on tables and sing their Pay Back the Money song.
Even now, as there is a lot at stake, and legal opinion says the summons is not valid, their opinion is that Gordhan is not above the law.
I doubt if there is any consultation among themselves before issuing a statement.
We would expect wise utterances because most of these people are educated.
Our economic climate is somewhat the main focus at the moment. — Skhu, East London
Civil servant sacrifices forgotten
TIME to think of the sacrifices made by former civil servants. Your article “Trust account set up to help struggling heroes”, dated August 25, refers.
While I commend the effort by Zola Dunywa and others, my thoughts go to former civil servants who distinguished them selves by serving selflessly in building structures of governance that work to this very day.
I am thinking here of school governance structures, as well as all those structures that are responsible for effective governance.
I remember that we had to use our own finances to build these and other community structures to make our communities and the government of the day look good.
When the ruling party boasts of a good story, they must remember some of us contributed to that story.
Some of the structures we established when still employed, are still being utilised by the new order even if there is no recognition for that.
All we have to show for this effort are departmental certificates which have become worthless with time. In some cases, these fail to cover even the period and the extent of one’s involvement.
In my case, my certificate covers my contribution in Chungwa Bhisho School when the truth is that I served many schools over a period of plus-minus 20 years.
I have many of those departmental certificates decorating my study at the moment. Our experiences have become so worthless that no one thinks about us.
We have been relegated to the scrapheap of history. Those like me, who still write in these columns, are tolerated as long as they still can breathe, because when death or sickness arrive, they shall remain dead for a very long time. Our African community is known for looking after one another in the ubuntu philosophy.
If some of these people are ashamed of how they have acquired their fortunes they need not bother as nobody, no matter how poor they have become, wants to be associated with crime.
I am targeting those who can hold their heads high in the ways their fortune were acquired. There is no dignity in begging for your bread every day.
These people are in danger of being seen as useless even by their own children – even though some have high educational qualifications.
Nation-building is going to be hard if we fail to collect and utilise those human resources we have today.
This effort can be regarded as another attempt at creating something to aid those who find themselves hard done by, although they had jobs and salaries to cushion them in the beginning. — Mxolisi Toyitoyi Dimbaza, King William’s Town
Are we not all EL?
I WRITE for the first time in my life as the recent advertising campaign by a wellknown estate agency has raised some thoughts that I wanted to share with the rest of my adopted city.
The adverts carry the slogan “I am East London” and I think that’s a very big claim … Am I the only person who thinks that a little bit of a stretch of imagination?
Are they implying that the rest of us are not East London or that they are in some way better than the rest of us or that they should be ambassadors for our city and feel they need to share this with us?
I believe “we are all East London” and as such we are all part of this city and should all take credit and blame when needed.
Without united and committed citizens we won’t get where we need to go to make it the great city it can surely be. — Michael, Nahoon
NOTE TO WRITERS: