.....in the wind
Driving down the highways of Gauteng at night, one cannot cease to be amazed by the violet light that breaks the monotony of the yellow floods that light up the road. As you pass under the e-toll gantries you cannot fail to be amazed by the technology that has been installed. All to collect an e-toll around the national roads in Gauteng. What the heck was SANRAL thinking! The system, when implemented, will bring in a revenue of 3.513 billion rand while the cost of collection would be 2.543 billion rand about 70% of the collected revenue. This makes no mention of the cost of SANRAL staff, administration costs, etc. which I suspect will yield a negative return. Fortunately a court ruling has put a halt to the project and for the moment its "e-tolling in the wind"!
Parkhurst used to be a nice quaint suburb where you could park your car and walk around the streets and have a look at the interesting items that are on display or alternatively stop by for a quick cup of coffee and a bite to eat. It is a collection of family businesses and has a nice small town feel to it. Recently the Johannesburg Metro decided to levy a fee for parking. They signed up a third-party, Ace Parking (BEE) the owner was was interviewed on Carte Blanche, that had violated the terms of the contract by duly sub-contracting a third party(NON BEE) to collect the parking levies and, not to mention, both parties were good friends from a previous job. The result of this levy, which is a charge of R8 per hour, has been a sharp decline in trade in the area. Considering that the street are open, in disrepair and that parking bays are placed all over the road, some illegally, will not only leave you out of pocket for a good few rand but also a possible traffic violation. The plan is to roll this model across the whole of Johannesburg, if not Gauteng, affecting all small businesses around the city. So at the cost of solving a parking problem the rather large economic problem of job creation has been put in jeopardy. Oh and by the way the cost of collection is 74.8% meaning Metro gets R2 and Ace Parking get R6, interesting business model. Nice quaint "family businesses in the wind" not to mention "job creation potential in the wind".
An interesting march took place in Gauteng during the last week. It was a march spurred on by the DA highlighting the plight of unemployed youth. DA supporters took to the streets and went to the offices of COSATU to lobby for a a youth wage subsidy. COSATU is not happy with the subsidy as it fears that this would lead to older people loosing their jobs in favour of younger "subsidised" workers. Skills and experience do not seem to play a part in this argument. When the DA arrived in Braamfontein, violence broke out between the COSATU and DA supporters. "Tolerance of opposing views in the wind"
What do politicians expect? Did they think that when they enter into public office that people will just sit by and watch? Did they not think that taking a political platform would open them up to public scrutiny, praise and criticism? Judging by the comments of some I think not. Being a politician makes you fair game for the public. The latest controversy is over a painting, which I have yet to see, being displayed at the Goodman Gallery. I believe, from the radio, that it is rather controversial and may be even downright vulgar. Based on all the reports all I can say is "jewels in the wind"!
;-)
Parkhurst used to be a nice quaint suburb where you could park your car and walk around the streets and have a look at the interesting items that are on display or alternatively stop by for a quick cup of coffee and a bite to eat. It is a collection of family businesses and has a nice small town feel to it. Recently the Johannesburg Metro decided to levy a fee for parking. They signed up a third-party, Ace Parking (BEE) the owner was was interviewed on Carte Blanche, that had violated the terms of the contract by duly sub-contracting a third party(NON BEE) to collect the parking levies and, not to mention, both parties were good friends from a previous job. The result of this levy, which is a charge of R8 per hour, has been a sharp decline in trade in the area. Considering that the street are open, in disrepair and that parking bays are placed all over the road, some illegally, will not only leave you out of pocket for a good few rand but also a possible traffic violation. The plan is to roll this model across the whole of Johannesburg, if not Gauteng, affecting all small businesses around the city. So at the cost of solving a parking problem the rather large economic problem of job creation has been put in jeopardy. Oh and by the way the cost of collection is 74.8% meaning Metro gets R2 and Ace Parking get R6, interesting business model. Nice quaint "family businesses in the wind" not to mention "job creation potential in the wind".
An interesting march took place in Gauteng during the last week. It was a march spurred on by the DA highlighting the plight of unemployed youth. DA supporters took to the streets and went to the offices of COSATU to lobby for a a youth wage subsidy. COSATU is not happy with the subsidy as it fears that this would lead to older people loosing their jobs in favour of younger "subsidised" workers. Skills and experience do not seem to play a part in this argument. When the DA arrived in Braamfontein, violence broke out between the COSATU and DA supporters. "Tolerance of opposing views in the wind"
What do politicians expect? Did they think that when they enter into public office that people will just sit by and watch? Did they not think that taking a political platform would open them up to public scrutiny, praise and criticism? Judging by the comments of some I think not. Being a politician makes you fair game for the public. The latest controversy is over a painting, which I have yet to see, being displayed at the Goodman Gallery. I believe, from the radio, that it is rather controversial and may be even downright vulgar. Based on all the reports all I can say is "jewels in the wind"!
;-)
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