Readers’Views
‘Cabinet of godfathers’ is running our nation into the ground
Who is running South Africa Inc? It seems as though a “cabinet of godfathers” is directing events, but what are the names of the members of this amorphous group, which has little regard for the country’s wellbeing?
Each week there are fresh scandals involving incompetence and malfeasance at Eskom, which now has a new CEO of untried measure but with a clouded background.
It would appear that Sean Maritz, its new head, was catapulted into the hot seat and promptly confirmed the suspension of Eskom’s legal head, Suzanne Daniels, on grounds yet to be proven.
Outside of the sorry state of the state-owned enterprises there are stories of civil servants enjoying years of suspension on the government payroll.
There are also stories of dysfunctional municipalities owing Eskom, Rand Water and other creditors millions, yet unable to meet their obligations.
It is sad to witness the country’s decline, particularly during these past eight years, after the optimism of the Mandela era. Ted O’Connor, Johannesburg
FNB can help me with an answer
How is it that the experts at FNB cannot explain how a pickpocket with a stolen credit card and no pin was able to withdraw two amounts of R3 500 and R1 500 in five minutes from an account that has a daily withdrawal limit of R2 000?
Perhaps our so-called experts are not as smart as they think they are, or maybe they do know but are only willing to share the information with their dishonest colleagues or acquaintances.
When I reported the matter, FNB’s call centre agent simply said: “I don’t know.”
“How can we help you?” asks FNB in its advertising campaigns. Simple: please offer a rational explanation to my simple question without any obfuscation. Dean Sooprayen, Benoni
Return to mountain water
In response to Emeritus Professor David Rosenberg’s letter “Flushing precious water away” (Readers’ Views, October 8): waterless urinals are but a small part of water consumption, albeit important.
Climate change has left our historical dams in the wrong places.
Move them? Tricky. The lesser rainfall is neither showering nor bathing the catchment areas of our dams. They remain largely dry.
With summer here and high-pressure patterns pushing our rains south, the only natural catchment area remains the Table Mountain aquifer.
Table Mountain’s unique makeup results in the creation of “a magnificent sponge” which sucks up the rain falling on top of it throughout the year.
A series of workshops on underground water is taking place in the Cape Peninsula wherever there is an aquifer — from Kalk Bay, through Constantia, the City Bowl and out into Durbanville and beyond.
The Khoisan used the Table Mountain aquifer for their sustenance. So did the colonists. Now it is the turn of the current residents.