Expectation that public feather president’s fowl nest is embarrassing

THE parliamentary ad hoc committee’s visit to Nkandla reminded me of a hilarious conversation I recently shared with my son and family in the US.

They initially refused to believe our public representatives and civil society were seriously investigating our president’s need for the public to pay for a chicken run at his home.

The president “needs a chicken run?” No, seriously? Pull the other leg! Think of a chicken run at the White House, come on!

They would not believe the national leader of a modern progressive state would expect the nation to supply such a facility. Surely I had to be mistaken?

They giggled their heads off as I battled to convince them of the truth of this story.

Then they asked how our people were not embarrassed by such a ludicrous situation. — Embarrassed South African, Eastern Cape

Give education vision

MANY schools in rural areas in the Eastern Cape have no teachers, most especially science, mathematics and accounting teachers.

Meanwhile frustrated graduates who have teaching qualifications are migrating to other provinces in droves to look for teaching jobs.

The Eastern Cape Department of Education has no clear vision or plan to employ new teachers even though the situation is so dire.

Given this lack of teachers we cannot expect good matric results. Remember the competitive edge of any organisation lies in its human resource capability.

How does the EC DoE invest in early childhood development? Meanwhile we do not even have enough foundation teachers who are employed.

Our MEC of Education has consistently failed. This department needs visionary leaders who will come up with a robust plan to change the situation.

Good leaders are necessary who will be able to attract and retain quality teachers . — Dlepu Sinovuyo, via e-mail

Nuclear disaster

THE articles by Bantu Mniki “Nuclear energy outdated idea” (DD July 22) and Carol Paton’s “Big questions over estimate on nuclear bid” on the same day refer.

Both writers describe quite comprehensively the very high risks to the public of the nuclear power expansion project the South African authorities plan to take.

It is neither the president nor somebody else in this government who is going to have to pay for it. It will be South African citizens and residents!

The opposition parties and all in parliament should be up in arms against the use of such a potentially fatal and very risky power source.

It remains very, very questionable as to why the ANC and government leaders are willing to hand over national energy security to foreigners? — Ruediger Dahlhaeuser, Chintsa East

Educate taxi drivers

THE report on a head-on collision “Eight die in horrific head-on accident outside Queenstown” (DD, July 14) refers. It raised the constant problem of taxis overtaking and colliding head-on with approaching traffic.

I was certainly not surprised to learn that a Toyota Avanza was involved in this crash.

Recently, on a Sunday morning, while travelling on the outward-bound North East Expressway extension beyond Abbotsford Christian Centre, going around the bend towards the motor dealerships, I was confronted by one coming directly towards me on my side of the road.

It had overtaken two vehicles, across a double white line. I had to take evasive action.

When will these drivers learn to respect road rules and the lives of other motorists?

I believe the Daily Dispatch should, on a regular basis, run articles setting out road rules and that radio stations should do the same. — B Chapman, Bonnie Doon

Customer ever king

THE article “$3-billion quarterly loss for Microsoft” (DD, July 23) refers.

Reasons contributing to this loss include the restructuring the Nokia handset business and declines in the sales of the Windows operating system.

This got me thinking about why such a big corporate would experience a decline in demand. Could it be because customers’ needs are ever changing?

This is a lesson tha, in my opinion, big corporates operating in our country can learn from.

Then there is the matter of customer care. At the core of any business lies a precious stakeholder called a customer and ultimately the old saying “the customer is king’’ is very true.

Businesses need to honour this principle and ensure all workers within organisations understand this.

Companies often have fancy policies at the top but on the shop floor they are not practised.

For example, you walk into a big supermarket with 15 tills and get a queue several metres long because only only two till are operating (this is not even at lunch time, by the way).

Are only two operators working because the company is cutting down on staff to save money?

Or is it because some of the operators are chatting in the background?

I do not know. But one thing I am certain of is that standing in a long line frustrates the customer.

Customers are a blessing, not an inconvenience, they pay the wage bill. They are the reason why shop doors open.

A good way to take care of customers is to serve them, and to do so quickly and with a smile.

No matter how big a company is, customer care is important and can make a difference between profit and loss.

An American CEO once said the two rules of a successful business are, rule 1: A customer is always right; rule#2: Re-read rule no 1. — Fungai Mushohwe, Selborne

Sad Joffe had to flee

SAD to hear sports journalist former TV and radio sports presenter Graeme Joffe has fled the country because of alleged threats to his life (allegedly received in Grahamstown).

Nobody and nothing, not even the Lottery, escaped his attention. There is such a need for transparency when it comes to dealing with taxpayers’ money. — Brian, via e-mail

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