When the private sector is tainted
Where are Cape Town’s desalination plants?
OVER the past few years our radars were fixed on the public sector – on theft and corruption bedevilling government departments and parastatals.
So focused were we on government entities that we hardly took notice of the shady dealings and illicit activities that went on in the corporate world.
The public and private sectors seemed poles apart. With its bloated labour force, the public sector had a poor work ethic and was bogged down with inefficiency, maladministration and, of course, corruption. Profitability mattered little to the parastatals as each time they got into financial difficulties they were bailed out by government.
However, companies in the private sector were models of efficiency and profitability. Even in recessionary times, they outshone the public sector, making money and rewarding their shareholders with handsome dividends.
In fact, the failure of government departments and entities boosted business in the private sector. Postal services, health care, education, social grants and transport are some of the sectors that have seen phenomenal growth of private business.
But now this squeaky clean image of the private sector is getting muddied. Skeletons, long hidden from the scrutiny of the media and the public, come tumbling out of the cupboards in the boardrooms of corporate giants. There was the collusion and price-fixing in the construction and food industries. Then there was the spectacular collapse of African Bank. EOH shares tumbled on the JSE after it was suspected of corrupt dealings with government.
Now we hear that Naspers subsidiary Multichoice has been involved in a corrupt deal with SABC, paying millions of rand as a bribe to the national broadcaster in return for its monopoly in digital encryption.
But one of the biggest corporate scandals in South Africa has been Steinhoff, once the darling of the investment world. Overnight, its share price tumbled from R70 to a mere R6, wiping out billions in shareholders’ money, much more than the losses in the Gupta state capture scandal.
Christo Wiese, its biggest shareholder, lost R37 billion and the Public Investment Corporation R17 billion. The cause? Steinhoff had crooked its books. Former chief executive Markus Jooste, a racehorse owner and avid gambler, is under investigation by the Hawks.
Greed and profit drives business. When it puts profitability before ethics and morality it’s just as ugly as the corrupt public sector. Captains of industry become pirates of industry.
THYGARAJ MARKANDAN
Silverglen TV NEWS channel ENCA dedicated a whole day on Water Watch. It is obvious that Cape Town and other areas face a serious water crisis.
Imagine surviving on just 50 litres of potable water a day.
The question is why are the bureaucrats involved in resolving the water crisis playing naming and blaming games?
Surely the authorities should have seen this disaster looming? A good example is the resolution of a water crisis is Richards Bay in KZN. A joint effort between government and business saw the installation of a desalination plant.
This plant, that converts sea water to potable water and churns out millions of litres of water, is the lifeblood of this town.
According to the mayor, there was a time when some big businesses were threatening to pull out if the water crisis was not resolved, which would have resulted in thousands of job losses and lost revenue to the town’s coffers. Fortunately, this did not happen.
Cape Town needs to follow suit and build desalination plants or the city will be in dire straits. Even if the rains come and the dams fill up, the plant could serve as a backup for water supply.
Cape Town is a top tourist destination for local and overseas tourists which will very rapidly decline.
This will be a huge loss to the city’s coffers resulting in many job losses. ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa recently announced that the nuclear deal will not happen as the country has excess power capacity.
The billions of rand that would have been used for the nuclear project should be directed to resolve the drought crisis .
The building of more dams, drilling boreholes and desalination plants is now a government priority to save the country from the ravages of drought.
Water is life and without potable water we are nothing.
VIJAY SEWTAHAL Clare Estate