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Sacrificial lambs and other animals

Can you sing "Baa Baa Black Sheep", while government pulls the wool over your eyes?
Martin Czernowalow
By Martin Czernowalow, Contributor.
Johannesburg, 01 Feb 2008

I have but one question: What in the holy hell is wrong with this country? What is it going to take for the average sheep in the street to wake up and realise there is no more coffee to smell - and won't be as long as the likes of minerals and energy minister Buyelwa Sonjica populate government.

This muppet, along with fellow kumquat Alec Erwin, was on top form during an address to Parliament earlier this week, regarding the state's genius plan to deal with power outages.

Here's Sonjica bit of wisdom: "Go to sleep earlier so that you can grow and be cleverer. Boil less water, use the microwave rather than stove, take a shower and not a shallow bath."

Is this woman off her head? Perhaps she missed out on some of that much-needed sleep during her formative years. Perhaps she spends too much time sleeping on the job.

She then proceeded to thank the ANC for its leadership in helping to deal with this emergency. Leadership? What leadership? The same leadership that got us into this crap in the first place?

Now, I don't mean to sound alarmist, but WE ARE FACING A RECESSION, PEOPLE! But the best the honourable minister can come up with is adjusting your sleeping, cooking and hygiene habits. If this is the type of leadership that we are counting on to get us out of this mess, then the electricity shortage is the least of our worries.

Mr Erwin, on the other hand, should be admired. Few men are capable of showing such arrogance in the face of calamity. The esteemed leader of public enterprises rejected calls for his and Sonjica's heads, saying: "This is a very new experience for South Africans. No amount of baying for sacrificial lambs will solve the problem."

Actually, I disagree. You screwed up and you should be fired. Simple as that.

By Erwin's - and Thabo Mbeki's - admission, government was warned, as far back as 1998, that this was going to happen. If that is the case Alec, no matter what you say, you are to blame.

But, word is, Erwin is on his way out anyway. He was stupid enough to call Jacob Zuma a criminal during a BBC interview last year, and said JZ would never be president. Who's sorry now?

Sacrificial lambs, scapegoats and sheep. Welcome to the funny farm. Can you say "baa"?

Google sneaks up on SA

If this is the type of leadership that we are counting on to get us out of this mess, then the electricity shortage is the least of our worries.

Martin Czernowalow, news editor, ITWeb

On a lighter note (so to speak), Google SA is planning a sneak assault on the local market. Yes, the move is so secret that country head Stafford Masie is refusing to speak to the media at the moment, unwilling to divulge business strategy or plans.

In fact, the whole thing is so hush-hush that Masie does not even know what's happening in his own backyard. Earlier this week, ITWeb approached Masie about local online store WantItAll, which claimed that Google is supporting it with its best practice advertising information and advertising standards.

When contacted, Masie was clueless. He frantically made some international calls and finally reverted with confirmation. Slick.

Last year, during a rare public appearance, Masie said: "We are going to establish a point of presence in this country, which means the international bandwidth problem is solved. There will be a big announcement in a month (December)."

Alas, so far, no announcement. Kind of smells like Neotel.

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