Seffrica 4
The spin coming out of the mainstream media after the infamous Andre De Ruyter (outgoing ESKOM CEO) interview was, if nothing else, predictable.
The establishment circled the wagons, De Ruyter was criticised, vilified and given the mantle of the “disgruntled employee” and yet when I watched the piece, he was about as cogent, balanced and objective as I think it was possible to be under the ridiculous ESKOM self-created circumstances.
And if, as they claimed, he was fabricating the depth of the corruption and decay within the organisation, why would it be necessary to poison him ahead of the whistleblowing?
Surely if he was making it all up it would be easy to debunk with the actual verifiable facts and no assassination attempts would be required? Destroy his credibility with the “truth” - job done.
I haven’t seen anyone unpack a blow-by-blow refutation of the De Ruyter narrative, which is what one would expect when the mainstream account is at odds with the whistleblower narrative, as it inevitably would be - yet - nada!
Instead - De Ruyter is lying. Let’s kill him.
Yeah, right.
I know the whole ESKOM load-shedding situation might seem tedious to people not resident in South Africa but believe me, it’s no laughing matter and the citizenry are heartily fed up with it 2 - 3 times a day at critical family times up to 8-12 hours of outage per day. Like with anything though, it’s given a high degree of normalcy through repetition and scheduling of the events and inevitably, apps are created to inform the hapless citizens of their impending outages and the durations thereof. The only professional thing to come out of load-shedding it appears, is the country’s ability to schedule it.
When someone, intimately connected with all of the information, thus unpacks the level of chaotic corruption that perpetuates the dynamic, however, you realise that there’s been a very strong possibility that this could have been resolved years ago unless the criminal enterprise wanted it otherwise, which is clearly the case.
Why South Africans aren’t rioting in the streets and taking this criminally corrupt parastatal to task is beyond me.
Paradoxically, while the populace languishes in the social and economic chaos of the failed power delivery, ESKOM posted nearly R19 billion profit in 2021 (US$1.82 billion) so they’re still opportunistically earning income from those same disenfranchised citizens that they treat with such blatant disdain and to whom they consistently fail to deliver the essential service.
To the point that, when faced with a lawsuit brought by the United Democratic Movement (UDM) and 18 others, against the ruling party claiming its failure to provide South Africans with electricity is a contravention of South Africans’ fundamental rights, South African President Ramaphosa declared through an opposing affidavit that the government has no constitutional obligation to provide South Africa with power!
Not sure just how one can absolve oneself of the obligation, even through “local” government, under 7 (152) of the Constitution where it’s crystal clear the “objective” of such a body is to “ensure the provision of services to communities in a sustainable manner.” Other than in the Western Cape where the ANC holds only a 29% representation, they are firmly ensconced in the majority in every other “local” government so their constitutional obligation to provide citizens with power, as far as I can see, can brook no debate.
And Ramaphosa’s statement is, to be frank, as about as disdainful of his electorate as one can get. It beggars credulity.
The case is set to be heard on 20 March in the high court.
Fascinating to see where it ends up…
To more vacation-related matters, however, we spent a wonderful overnight stint with our friends Wendy and Simon Leppard, restful, relaxed, spoiled to a very large extent, a period of which comprised a road trip toward Lanseria and the verdant environs of an exquisite estate called Toadbury Hall - Phineas Frogg would be completely at home there, right…
The reason for this trip was to ostensibly surprise one of Karen’s erstwhile ceramic community friends who had moved her studio to this spot from Muldersdrift.
The drive was the usual Johannesburg dichotomy from affluent suburbia - on and past squatter shacks, past rolling manicured lawns then garbage strewn footpaths… until eventually out into the countryside and rolling soft hills, woodland and suchlike.
These stark contrasts never cease to amaze me.
Thankfully, not much had changed in the environs out toward Lanseria Airport and most of the countryside remained unspoilt, unsullied by any informal encroachment or residential developments.
Toadbury Hall, a spot I’d past a zillion times while resident In Magaliesburg, looked exactly as I remembered it - from the outside, truth being - in all the time I’d lived here, I’d never once been inside.
The usual gatehouse and security staff then in to an immaculately manicured estate with herbaceous beds, a host of beautiful mature trees, especially willows and centrepiece, an old converted manor house that now presided as the guest house under the eponymous title.
The studio spaces were at the back of the estate, a couple of barnlike areas which, when Karen enquired, were conspicuously absent of her friend, Dale’s presence.
One of the students informed us that Dale had been called away suddenly - an emergency involving her Mum. So the party of surprisers suddenly became the surprised.
Karen called her but there was no way, given the nature of the emergency, that she would be back in time to see us.
Nothing for it then but to have a drink at the gazebo and gaze out over the pretty surroundings, which we did, Phineas perched on the handrail that overlooked the ponds beyond, musing no doubt about the plethora of amphibian life that must abound in these parts. We took the obligatory photos and relaxed into a refreshing beverage, enjoying the surroundings, the tranquility of which was broken by teams of men unloading heaps of paraphernalia ahead of some impending event.
Sublime nonetheless and invoked within me the question why I had never taken the time to visit here during our Magaliesburg tenure, a question that I simply couldn’t answer. Other, more familiar haunts, I guess.
Phineas, on the other hand, was quite at home, posing for a photo op above one of the signs proclaiming: FROG PARKING ONLY - ALL OTHERS WILL BE TOAD….
Yeah, I know - dad joke, right. But cute nonetheless.
We chatted and somehow the conversation meandered to matters of the heart which inspired me to recount a personal tale to the girls while listening to Jackson Browne’s beautiful song, In The Shape Of A Heart… ironically, the emergency that had scuppered the earlier surprise also involved the heart….
We left shortly thereafter and headed back to Craighall Park in pensive mood.
Namaste mothersuckers.
Peace out…