It really does feel that way at the moment. The sponge is being squeezed and there’s very little bathwater left to drip out.

For us in Cape Town, the next nasty “surprise” is the July 1st rates increase, which inevitably includes hefty hikes in electricity and water as well. While this will obviously prompt shock and outrage from the uninformed population (probably on the 2nd, as the 1st is a Sunday), this happens every year, with alarming regularity.

On a more positive note, we could (could) be looking at a petrol price drop in the meantime. And, if oil continues on its current downward trend and the Rand holds firm for a few more weeks, it might be as much as 55c/litre. That would give you more than 3 weeks to save up so you can light your house in July.

Happy Days!

One group who are particularly vocal in their opposition to e-tolling are Cosatu. They represent over 2 million workers across SA and they are a politically active organisation as well, so it makes sense for them to be involved. But their latest call to arms and their threat to mobilise their members in “the mother of all protests against the act of highway robbery” have awakened the cynic in me (who only ever dozes lightly anyway).

Here’s their plan:

Cosatu is planning several rallies, marches, demonstrations and night vigils at the offices of the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) and the transport department across the country from April 23.

These would lead up to a large “national stay-away or socio-economic strike” on April 30.

Monday, April 30th hey? That seems like the ideal time to do this, since that’s when the e-tolling is due to start (although it seems likely to be postponed amidst the current chaos). But there’s something else about Monday April 30th that we should note: namely that it is the only working day between Thursday 26th April and Wednesday 2nd May.

Yep, if you take into account the public holidays on 27th April and 1st May (and who wouldn’t?) then adding 30th April as a “stayaway day” means that you get a 5-day weekend.

How very convenient.

I predict further mass action in June when Zwelinzima Vavi et al work out that Youth Day is on a Saturday this year and will therefore not attract a day off work.

On the plus side (because there’s always a plus side), this e-tolling row could turn out to be the great unifying event South Africa has been crying out for. Mandela might not have to die. Unfortunately, recent worldwide events have suggested that great unifying events have generally not been great when the incumbent government in on the other side.

A hugely slanted article in the Guardian this morning informs us that a report recommending that fracking be given the go ahead in the UK is “all but certain to be accepted by ministers”, effectively allowing trial wells to be drilled as a first stage in tapping the estimated 4.7 trillion cubic feet of shale gas in Lancashire.

Still, as one of the comment on the article points out:

As for the risks, I doubt this a good place to gauge them. Mainstream papers are pretty clueless when it comes to gauging the real risks of anything to do with science or engineering.

The fact that the health and safety obsessed “nanny state” in the UK is prepared to go ahead with fracking and for deposits beneath Lancashire – which amount to around 1% of South Africa’s estimated reserves – is further evidence that when the process is considered rationally and independently, without the emotional hubris of the misinformed and misinforming green brigade, sensible decisions can be made. See here for more of the terms and conditions included in the report (the bits the Guardian chose not to report).

There’s a lesson for South Africa to learn here. I just hope Ms. Dipuo Peters is watching.

Anyone want to sponsor me a Galaxy? (he asked, hopefully.)

For its own sake, the DA might need a new leader.

suddenly the rug has been smartly pulled from beneath DA supporters’ feet, as their previously solid and reliable leader seems almost to be suffering some sort of breakdown, resulting in her, her party’s and her supporters’ credibility being eroded; the sage advice of arguing only with logic and not emotion seemingly forgotten.

But while the own goals of opposition politicians are important in our democracy, there are bigger problems involving credibility facing our country. Hot Cross Buns.

Yep – Woolworths (and as we’ve said before, this isn’t the same Woolworths as went bust in the UK, this is the SA equivalent of M&S) are out and about offending christians again. But after their previous capitulation on the decision to remove loss making christian magazines from their shelves back in 2010 (a decision which resulted, incidentally, in a loss of credibility for the store), “surprisingly” this time it’s the christians who have lost the plot. This just a couple of weeks after their “Jesus is alive/Jesus is dead” car crash of an argument over the Red Bull ad.

Because today, christian people (not all christian people, it should be said, but some very vocal christian people) are ever so upset about there being a Halaal marking on Woolworths’ Hot Cross Buns.

And yes, they’re really annoyed:

I hate woolworths… How can you do that to the Christians, I hope that God will have mercy on you. And dnt be surprised if your shops run bankrupt.. I will pray to my living God and you will see what he is capable of!

Let’s pop back and review that threat in a few weeks, months or years, shall we? Because while your bloke upstairs is allegedly both omnipresent and omnipotent, Woolies do sell awfully nice chocolate brownies, very decent fresh fruit and veg, and have a huge selection of quality clothing as well. With their latest results indicating a turnover up 11.4%, profits up 26.8% (despite not selling very many christian magazines) and total assets of R9,218,000,000, it seems unlikely that they’ll go under any time soon.

But with several people up in arms over some seasonal bakery products, who knows what the future may hold?

Even the SA Catholic Bishops’ Conference spokesperson Chris Townsend said “people were overreacting and needed to be more understanding”:

Hot cross buns are only a symbol, and not a central tenet of Christianity. There are a lot more weighty issues to deal with in SA than a few ‘hot cross Christians’

However, for me, it’s just another nail in the coffin as far as christian credibility is concerned. And to be honest, we’re running out of space on the lid now. When members of a religion (or any other group) display such stupid, irrational (shock) and intolerant behaviour, there comes a point when society will simply stop listening.

And if they want their reasonable and sensible suggestions to be considered in the future, just like dear Helen, someone needs to tell them to pipe down before that moment comes.

UPDATE: Here’s some opinion from Georgina Guedes. You may recall that I also agreed with her thoughts here back in 2007.

UPDATE 2: Oh dear – there’s precedent! Tesco in the UK has lost market share, profit and has been infested by mice (twice) – all “since supporting Gay Pride“.

UPDATE 3: Hayibo’s response is brilliant.

UPDATE 4: This is also worth a read for a different perspective on this.

The contents of a previously confidential and completely fictitious City of Cape Town report which were revealed during routine business in the Western Cape High Court this morning look set to cause outrage across the city.
The report, commissioned late last year, outlines details of plans to move the Cenotaph from its present site on Adderley Street in the City Centre to a disused quarry on Chapman’s Peak Drive where it would be used as part of a hydraulic fracturing rig to extract the rich deposits of natural gas discovered at the site during preliminary survey work by the toll company Entilini last year.

The plan marries together three contentious issues which are described by the report’s anonymous author as “awkward problems which could prove potentially costly vote-wise at the next election, but which require addressing”. The author goes on to suggest that “tying the three together would likely limit the amount of negative PR generated by these issues should we address them separately”, but notes:

On face value, this plan makes good financial and political sense and makes the best of several difficult situations facing the City; namely, (a) that the position currently occupied by the Cenotaph is the preferred site for a MyCiti bus station, (b) that the City contract with Entilini requires that we must upgrade the Chapman’s Peak Drive toll plaza and a huge office park, and (c) that the natural gas deposits beneath Chapman’s Peak Drive are of such value that it would be foolish not to act upon them.
However, we should expect stiff opposition to each of these issues, given the historical significance of the Cenotaph, the emotional attachment of Hout Bay residents to Chapman’s Peak Drive, and the current negative publicity surrounding the process of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”).

The report suggests that certain environmental and financial points regarding the plans should be emphasised in media releases and interviews, including:

• The convenience and improved carbon footprint of public transport when compared to private cars.
• The recycling of the Cenotaph material and the return of those stones to their natural home in a quarry.
• The cleanliness of natural gas when compared to electricity from coal.
• The offset of expensive costs of new toll plaza and first stages of the Entilini office park through selling natural gas fracked from the Chapman’s Peak Drive site.

The confidential report appears to have been distributed to appropriate departments within the municipality.
City officials were unable to comment on the report at the time of writing.

Watch this one folks – I have a feeling we’re going to be hearing a whole lot more about it.

Cape Town Cosatu march, Wednesday 7th March 2012 from 10:30am.

When fracking goes wrong the environmental impacts aren’t as severe as when coal mining goes right.

— Francois Fourie (@FrancoisFourie) March 5, 2012

This after an Econometrix report suggested that if estimates of the amount of shale gas under the Karoo were confirmed:

 …it could provide the equivalent of 400 years’ worth of energy consumption in South Africa.

Economist Tony Twine described it thus:

This is a big chicken; she is a big puppy.

And he doesn’t chuck his animal comparisons around lightly.

The decision on fracking in the Karoo isn’t going to be made any time soon, but while the (poorly put and misleading) environmental argument has been stated for some time now, the economic benefits of South Africa’s shale gas resources could literally turn the fortunes of this country around.
Much like the UK, I’m not sure that we – or the Government – can ignore that for very much longer.

And that’s what Cape Town governance has been like for the past few years – a poor red wine that seems a whole lot better than a broken jaw and possible ocular contusion. We’ve excused the bad things because it could simply be so much worse. But suddenly the cracks are beginning to show. Potholes aren’t fixed, even when they’re reported. More and more traffic lights are going “a bit Gauteng” and flashing red for hours at a time. And the city implemented their new IT system “ISIS” apparently without actually checking that it worked.

How very Eastern Cape of them.

The upshot of this is that:

…the municipality’s Rates Clearance Department continues to labour under a backlog. The issuing of Rates Clearance Certificates, which would normally take 8 to 10 working days, remains a full month behind schedule – the financial implications of which are obvious to all involved.

And it’s meant that law firm Smith Tabata Buchanan Boyes has got in touch with the council (and Emperor Helen Zille, nogal) to express its displeasure and that of its clients:

The written response received from the Executive Deputy Mayor, Mr Ian Neilson, gives the assurance that the municipality is acutely aware of the problems that have occurred around Rates Clearance Certificates since the going live of the ISIS system and acknowledged the negative impact that the clearance backlog has, not only on the city’s economy, but also on the finalisation of property transactions. Mr Neilson assured us of the municipality’s determination to revert to its previous turnaround times as soon as possible.

That last line of Mr Neilson may just have well have been:

Yes, whatever. Now bugger off and stop annoying me.

But then at least he responded – probably more than you’d get from most municipalities.It’s just another indication of how the city is becoming less Capetonian and more Joburgesque every day. The DA are slipping, but they know that they can afford to, because everyone can remember and can still see just how bad the alternative is.

It’s a bit of a shoddy approach to things. Like it or not, the DA is slipping up more and more in Cape Town and it’s all rather disappointing for those of us forced to cough up rates for less and less service.

In the nearly seven years of Getwine’s existence we have had some fantastic flagship unlabelled wines from farms such as Rustenberg, Saxenburg, Buitenverwachting, Morgenhof, Delaire and many more. These top wines come and unfortunately also go, for example the Asara Ebony that we recently sold the last bottle of.

But like I said, there are always new wines that are offered to us and I must say that I am very, very excited about a range of ultra premium unlabelled wines that recently arrived at our Getwine depot from a well known wine estate in Franschhoek, which we are unfortunately not allowed to mention.

The three wines are listed below.

Select Cabernet/Pinotage 2007 @ R65 per bottle.
Regular cellar door price: R118
Platter * * * * 1/2 – Typical expression of a well structured unique South African blend. Flavours of mulberries, cassis, cinnamon, cloves and cigar box. Silky soft but well structured tannins with loads of berry fruit and spices on the palate.

Select Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 @ R69 per bottle.
Regular cellar door price: R187
Platter * * * * – Cedarwood and cigarbox flavours combined with rich dark berry fruit on the nose. Cassis, mulberry and spices on the palate. A full bodied, firmly structured wine with concentrated fruit, a balanced mouth-feel and a fresh after-palate typical to the Firgrove terroir from which the grapes derive.

Select Shiraz/Viognier 2007 @ R69 per bottle.
Regular cellar door price: R235
Platter * * * * 1/2 – This wine shows meaty spiciness, ripe dark berry fruits and beautiful floral aromas. The integration of the Viognier supports and enhances the rich and ripe flavours of the Shiraz, while softening the tannin structure. A full bodied wine with depth, complexity and elegance.

You don’t have to think too hard to see where these wines are from and what they might be. All of which means that you can see what an amazing deal this is. Stocks are probably limited, which is why I’ve got my order in before I hit the PUBLISH button.

Add to that Getwine’s legendary service and you could be sipping red like a boss by this time tomorrow. You’d be silly to miss out – tell them I sent you.