Actually not credible government action
AS THE victorious Springboks landed to a hero’s welcome at the OR Tambo International Airport as Rugby World Cup champions on Tuesday, my mind raced back to the previous day.
It was one of those days where I couldn’t get out of the car, captivated by a segment that Robert Marawa normally does on his Radio 2000 sports show. It is most probably the only radio platform that royally rolls out the proverbial carpet for often undervalued sports commentators, especially from the less glamorous African language SABC radio stations.
It’s a brilliant segment that quickly takes you on a whirlwind of the weekend sports results, done skilfully through the various match commentaries from their other sister stations.
Marawa did not disappoint. He dazzled us with a scintillating Xhosa commentary of the legendary Mthuthuzeli Scott from Umhlobo Wenene FM, reliving the dying minutes of that historic clash when Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe crossed the scoring line. My word. What a pleasure to listen to.
This became the soundtrack on my mind as I watched Siya Kolisi hoisting the Web Ellies Cup.
Judging by the praiseworthy comments that followed from the listeners, you could tell that Bra Mthura – as he is affectionately known – is one of the undeniable champions of rugby commentary. His delivery in isiXhosa is superb, rich with a great sense of humour and enjoyable superlatives and hyperboles.
Bra Mthura’s commentary took me back to the late eighties, growing up during the height of the apartheid madness and racial bigotry in our country when radio was the only consumed media platform for sports broadcasting, especially for oppressed black people. Radio sports commentary grew to become a standalone feature that contributed immensely to the mix bag of support that built and entrenched an unshakable culture of sport in our country.
From rugby to soccer and boxing, it spawned a generation of aspiring commentators who sharpened their craft using old shoes as microphones while imitating their radio legends on
AFTER serious thought about South Africa’s government I find the following: The government is extremely good at making promises prior to elections but incapable of implementing the promises after an election.
The e-toll fiasco is a case in point. We are told stories by ministers, but the president seems to be doing a Jacob Zuma and is still “applying his mind”.
The president is a disappointment to those who had great hopes. It appears that the government does not listen to the people who pay their bills and the politicians’ salaries.
It seems as if the government is
MADAM & EVE the sidelines of either sticky fights or soccer games.
Even the advent of television did not emasculate the dominance of radio commentary in sports broadcasting. In fact, it was common for people to switch off the volume of their television sets during a match or a boxing fight, watch only the visuals and then listen to radio commentary. What an honour it was.
Port Elizabeth incapable of collecting the monies owed to Eskom, some water authorities, and many governmental organisations. Without a reliable income no organisation is capable of paying for services and unemployment rises.
Has anyone been charged with stealing government monies?
Where does the government think it is going to find the money to repay these enormous losses? And most of the population keeps electing the same miscreants in to power.
Does the ANC stand for “Actually Not Credible”?
Oakdene
NOW that the honourable minister Fikile Mbalula has good intentions of sorting out the problems at Prasa, I would like to throw in a few suggestions.
I have been travelling via Shosholoza Meyl on the Cape Town/Jhb route once or twice a year for the past 10 years, mostly in the “Sitter”.
Thank goodness the selling of alcohol throughout the trip has been stopped through the “vending” system. In the early years of my travels, unruly behaviour was the order of the day due to excessive consumption of alcohol.
However, illegal selling of alcohol still takes place on stations such as Beaufort West and Kimberley, where the train stops for longer than usual. At 7am, a vendor should not be allowed to get onto the train in Kimberley and sell alcohol.
I feel the cafeteria’s prices, run by Prasa staff, are far too excessive. For instance, on my last trip, hake and chips and a small salad cost R95. A breakfast consisting of two eggs, two slices of toast, tea or coffee cost R57.
There is no rental to pay for facilities. It is a Prasa facility. At our local shopping centre in Johannesburg, a local eatery has on its menu hake, chips and a salad for R59, and is probably paying rental to the tune of R15 000 pm or more. Consideration should also be given to travellers in the Sitter on food pricing, maybe by introducing something like Russian and chips at a reasonable price.
Then there is the (smelly) problem of no water for toilet flushing on the second day, including no drinking water, no water to wash hands, etc. Besides being unhygienic, this a slap in the face for passengers who have paid, not only to travel from one town to another, but also for the use of these facilities.
Another problem is the train not arriving at the designated time. This probably would not be the case if the management at Transnet had not bungled in their purchasing of new locomotives. How could they have erred in buying locomotives that weren’t suited to our rail system and which set the tax payer back by R50 billion-odd?
Northwold
By Stephen Francis & Rico