President, EFF should talk through land occupation

THIS was the week that was:

Land invasions

EFF leader Julius Malema and President Cyril Ramaphosa need to sit down and talk through the land question.

Invading unoccupied land will create chaos, and lead to bloody clashes between the homeless people and those charged with the responsibility to maintain law and order.

It is irresponsible for Malema to call for invasions of land purely because it appears unoccupied.

State-owned land, which is earmarked for development and which has the potential for accommodating housing with associated services, can be fast-tracked to allow communities to build their own dwellings in a coordinated way which will allow the future installation of water, sanitation, electricity, roads and other social amenities.

But taking land which is privately owned will lead to economic mistrust and downfall.

South Africa is on the edge of a precipice, and only Malema and Ramaphosa can prevent this!

MPs’ properties

So Ramaphosa has 32 properties, a huge game farm and herds of cattle, not to mention his shareholdings and other parts of his considerable wealth.

So donating half his large salary to charitable causes is not such a hardship!

No wonder he has an open mind when confronted with leftish policies within the ANC.

At least he won’t be tempted by little fish!

He admits he was in the right place at the right time.

Now he only gets books, wine and cigars as presents!

Malema and other EFF top dogs apparently don’t receive any gifts.

Well none that they think are worth declaring, so they say.

Fuel price

Do you remember under the previous government how petrol used to be stockpiled in disused gold mines to “smooth” out the price of fuel to the consumer?

This wasn’t such a crazy scheme, but it got thrown out along with the officials when the new government took over.

The Treasury used to buy fuel when the price was low and managed to use its hidden resources when the price was high!

As it is now the poor consumer is whacked double – when the fuel price is high everything else goes up in price!

Makes you think, maybe the old way had some merit.

What a sporting weekend!

What a weekend for South African sport – 15-man rugby Springboks won, the seven-man Blitzbokkies rugby side won (and the 2018 sevens series title).

Even the Bafana Bafana soccer side had victories in the Cosafa plate competition with a youthful, inexperienced team, which augurs well for the future.

The women’s soccer side, Banyana Banyana, won and qualified for the African Women’s Cup of Nations, the South African women’s cricket side won, and South Africans won both the men’s and women’s Comrades ultra-marathon races! Well done to all participants. Let’s hope these bring us all closer, and stop the bickering and hateful outbursts.

Jacob Zuma pleads poverty

Jacob Zuma: “I can’t pay my lawyers!”

So get Legal Aid like anyone else.

Corruption, fraud and money laundering were not official government business – well, they were not meant to be – so why should taxpayers’ money be used to try to find excuses and loopholes?

Tony Wadsworth, Port Elizabeth