Reader fears finance ministry will end up like home affairs

Politics

So now there is a call to change South Africa’s name. Please put my suggestion in the hat: Republic of ZuGupTa. AK 48.

Julius Malema and the EFF must never be trusted. He stands with one foot with the ANC and the other foot with the DA – he wants both parties to dance to his tune. The EFF are a political party never to be trusted – today, tomorrow, never. KT.

Former home affairs minister Malusi Gigaba made a mess of the department while he was running it: all over the country, long queues, people waiting in line as early as 1am in the morning. Now that he is promoted to minister of finance, I wonder if his new post will improve the condition of that department, or it will finish up like home affairs. EK.

Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa is proposing to change the name of our beautiful country. I think this minister has his head fixed the wrong way round. Why change the name? Is he wanting the change because of the current junk status of this country? Does he think that the name change will distract attention from his colleagues’ corrupt activities in government? Changing the name won’t get us anywhere. What needs to change is the corrupt politicians in government. Get them out and we will see a new South Africa. A few days ago he called for the ANC to stop advertising in the newspapers which print negative news about them. From this, one can gather his own admission that the ANC government is corrupt.

Proteas

The Proteas have the number 1 batsman, number 1 and 2 bowlers and are the number 1 one day international team, but can’t win a major tournament. Are they just “chokers”?

Looks like the Guptas controlling everything in SA, even the cricket team. On a serious note, we don’t have an all-rounder, just bits and pieces who are one-hit wonders. SA was running scared, that’s why they picked 4 all-rounders. Also, how can a player tell a national sporting organisation which games he wants to play, and which he wants to miss? Do away with the quota system and get someone to put the players mindset right for the major tournaments.

These players stood out in the recent IPL; they are suspects because their bread is buttered on both sides in India, so they deliberately lost, otherwise their IPL contracts would have been no more and their support eroded. The Cricket Board should investigate these suspects.

Odds and ends

To M, who is of the opinion that the donations made by the banks towards the relief in Knysna will be for whites only: you are sick, very sick. VS.

Banks Donating R10m each for Knysna relief. My question is what the motive behind this is? I was a couple of rand short, the bank fired my cheque, on top of that levied a fee of R115. Not only are banks greedy, but put policies in place for staff to implement so if you complain, there is a standard answer. I don’t mind paying cash. I wish all banks went down the tubes for all their thievery. They are so quick to jump on the bandwagon to advertise, but slow in service delivery. Ex Banker.

Where must patients without medical aid go to see a cancer specialist? 6 months to see a doctor is criminal. Cancer doesn’t sit around twiddling its thumbs. If the state trains specialists, surely the logical thing is to get a return on investment by committing specialists to spend at least a year in government hospitals before they go to private?

I managed to get through to Metro re: my electricity account, after trying all last week and getting no reply to the messages I left and the e-mails. I queried why my bill was so high, and why it has been showing estimated billing since 2015. I was told this was because they had not been able to read my meter. Since 2015 my meter was supposedly not read. I asked why not, and the answer was that they could not access my property. This was an absolute load of rubbish because not only have I on occasion let them in, but so has my neighbour in my absence. I asked, though, if this was the case, why no one had left a message or tried to contact me, and they couldn’t answer me. I was given the contact number for the meter readers and, needless to say, no one is answering their phones. Why must ratepayers have to pay these higher fees when the municipality cannot do their jobs? The meter reader who goes around the Bluff has a really bad attitude as well, as if he is doing us a favour. When will those responsible take ownership of this inefficient department? Roy.

Ben Ngubane, you have with your recent utterances confirmed that you had been bought. You have always been the central figure in most corruption issues. We need to do a lifestyle audit on you. Joe soap.

Ben Ngubane at age 75 (Eskom). Why is he still working?