July 2011: The business end of politics

Top-up business newsletter from Mo Haarhoff at Studio M

There is little as self-empowering as being a lone swimmer in an Olympic-sized pool.

Whether you charge along using more energy to twist sideways for breath than to make headway, fighting the water as though it is your own personal enemy, or glide through it with seemingly little or no effort (as most slim, lithe lifeguards manage to do), or even if you just enjoy being able, as an elderly, disabled or challenged individual, to move freely and comfortably, every movement makes a noticeable impression on the surface and is yours alone.

Every swell and ripple records your progress. To borrow the title of a BBC series: This is your life.

It clarifies the belief religious people have that God sees everything.

But once others dive in to share the pool, they make their own impression and the tentative ripples of the less strident are less obvious, although they still interact.

Even those who don't make waves influence the lives of those around them, at home, at work and in the world. They can, with the help of others, change the course of history, develop a life-saving product or simply play a small part in keeping a business running efficiently.

Many ordinary South Africans joined R2K, making their gentle ripples part of something bigger.

The media made a lot of noise. Some assumed that was because their jobs were under threat. Cosatu and Nersa voiced their concerns.

Professional media bodies remain involved. But perhaps we need reminding that there has been disagreement within the ANC about the bill. Just because we don't know exactly which politicians upheld our rights on this issue, does not mean we should ignore the part they have played. We owe them some gratitude.

I'd love to know what Albertina Sisulu thought about it. It weighed heavily on Kader Asmal's mind. Does the old guard, a slowly dying breed, consider South Africa's recent efforts to find solutions a continuation of the struggle they supposed had already bought them, at great price, their freedom?
In fact, the Protection of Information Bill (PIB) will sooner or later affect the life of every South African, for good or ill, according to whether it is amended satisfactorily before being submitted into law.

So government's recent about-turn on the PIB is a good start.

The ANCYL definitely appears to want the struggle continued more lustily.

The past and now present president of the ANCYL encouraged waves that make a stormy night at Vetch's Pier seem like mild weather. We could all drown in that lot! His sort of talk can also turn the tide of history, particularly among young minds that are known to make the occasional hasty, hot headed and misguided choices.

The timing is such that our youth have convinced themselves that their kissing games produced revolt to the north of the continent. That's dangerous. It's probable that they have little idea of the severe consequences of going on the rampage in defence of unworkable ideals. (They should view the Tatane video one more time.)

The ANC in North-west and Gauteng now both want their mines expropriated, despite the so-far official ANC policy. Cosatu too, it seems, is chopping and changing its mind (which validates the belief some have that the latest R37mn ANCYL conference merely dealt with what the ANC intends to become future ANC policy).

Militant talk may not be the end of it, but only the beginning.

JM has, in fact, hit on three sectors that are struggling to show what they consider consistent, reasonable profit: agriculture, banking and mining.

And now the ANCYL seems determined to rape them all.

The land issue isn't going to go away, no matter how we look at it or how low the maize harvest is going to be. Until something drastic is done to resolve it anyone who owns any form of property is going to wonder occasionally whether they'll be safe in their beds come the revolution.

That's right. I don't think it's happened yet.

The threat that the youth will still erupt seems perfectly logical to me. Whate else is there for them to do with their time?

Am I being alarmist? I'd like to think so. But if we all dismiss the threats out of hand, we'll look pretty stupid if they come to pass.

Think carefully about Generation Now and Generation Next. I'm generalising, of course, but they have become used to immediate gratification with as little effort as possible. They can access as much information as their tiny (or not so tiny) minds want. They want jobs and incomes that satisfy them, without wasting time on gaining experience, working their way up, or doing the basics.

And too many are simply not prepared to waste time looking for any information when an authoritative voice says all they want to hear.

Add that to the fact that their lot in life is not enviable (no jobs) when all most really want is some money in their pockets, and we have a recipe for first-class mayhem.

But we have had a few good decisions recently. These ones give me hope:
  Ø  Scrapping an Olympic bid while we still have so much to put right for the poor;
  Ø  The declaration by the Department of Public Works that there is actually no shortage of skills in the built environment and property management sectors;
  Ø  Trevor Manuel's wish to stay at home with Maria (if they nationalise the banks, she's going to need a shoulder to cry on when she faces Barclays), and
  Ø  Finally prying Aurora out of the hands of people who effectively destroyed the value in both its mines and treated workers abysmally.

All relate directly to business.

So when is business going to come out of its coma and say or do something pragmatic?

Business Unity SA (Busa) has finally made a ripple on the surface, but the mining and banking sectors seem a little afraid of the water temperature. Big business has all the essential tools it needs to make a big splash: PR, relationships with the media, financial analysts, statistics...or is it simply counting the cost of finding new pools to swim in?

Smaller businesses have plenty to say, but no really public forum for expression apart from their local Chambers of Commerce or industry associations. If provinces are already agitating over the mining issue, now is probably the right time for small business to make itself heard.

As long as we have freedom of speech, every business that is finding labour laws too restrictive to help it grow, should be voicing its concerns.

A few of us watched a Standard Bank employee devote most of a working day last week to shouting the odds about the coming revolution on a publisher's news blog. The irony of the situation was palpable. He has a job he doesn't seem to want in a sector under threat and was ranting in what bordered on hate speech. He needs a reality check!

I wonder whether he wears his running shoes to work at month-ends...I also wonder what Standard's Chinese investors would think about him. He earns far more than his average Chinese counterpart.

Aurora has shown us that, for Chinese investors, China comes first. As it should!

It really is time that we South Africans managed some of the processes that the state struggles to get its head around. We cannot sit tight and wait until government is prepared to jump into the water. By then, there'll be a lot of damage done (and we all want some water left in the pool).

If eight arrests can be made within two days of a robbery at the Gauteng police commissioner's home, why doesn't this happen with all crime? (The force's psychology is back-to-front: tell a criminal you are shooting to kill and naturally he's going to aim to get in first; splash pictures of your home all over the papers and  now they all know where he lives.)

If the SABC screws up, why does it need to screw us all over by sulking? All its little fracas with M&G has done is given the newspaper the moral high ground. (Aren't potential lawyers taught to say 'Please', 'Thank you' and 'Sorry', like normal kids?)

And now the 'tripartheid' alliance seems wobbly. Well, isn't that about time? Unions and politics don't mix (especially when unions are failing their members and industry by not training new workers to take over from old).

People are still suffering now there are no apartheid laws. Some need more help to rise above the poverty they endure. The TRC did not resolve the desire for revenge that many harbour and the young emphasise. The state has frittered away much that could have helped more and has also run out of ideas (many of which were not very bright to begin with).

It's now too late to debate the moral issues of whether land owners worked hard to pay vast amounts for their property. They have it, others don't. Let's begin there, because stealing from them sure ain't going to make anyone healthy, wealthy or wise.

I have always felt that the combination of an FDR 5-year plan and a kibbutz-type system could help get the ripples going. Others may not agree.

But please would some involved body come up with a workable plan?

Bobby Godsell has a good reputation, but after his stint at Eskom I'm not sure he is all we need.

The lesson for today:
If every white person left this country today (or was, God forbid, massacred) it wouldn't create more jobs or leave thriving businesses for others to amble into. Those who think it would, have a lot to learn about business.

Studio M’s bottom line: So what are you going to do? Make a ripple, a gentle swell or splash like hell? Do you care to save your job, make jobs for others or save your business? Or don't you really care if even more South Africans end up like the miners from Aurora, who have been promised half of their pensions in six months' time, to compensate for two full years without pay? (That leaves them only half of their pensions for the rest of their lives...)
Mo

June 2011: Banking on it

Top-up business newsletter from Mo Haarhoff at Studio M

Banking on it

The South African Reserve Bank's latest report on money and banking claims that credit demand grew 6.18% in April y/y, after 5.13% y/y growth in March.

I bet all the major banks are clapping their hands with glee. They have such limited vision; lending their money is the only way they see of making profits. Apart from, of course, charging their customers outrageous fees and pouring millions into their chosen sponsorships.

Make no bones about it, economic conditions are no tougher for banks than for other businesses and the majority of consumers. According to ratings agency, S&P, our major banks are suffering an 'asset liability mismatch with insufficient deposits'.

In short, they are not lending enough and we are not saving enough. South Africans lean towards saving with insurance companies and asset managers, rather than banks. That's old news!

As S&P said, 'All banks are a reflection of the economy they operate in'.

I would prefer our banks to function as the service industry they are rather than supposing themselves just a tier below big brothers: government and Eskom.

Over the previous year, I have coincidentally had personal dealings with three of the big four. They were all extremely frustrating. I avoid the fourth big bank because I believe it my right to choose which charities to support and how much I can afford to donate. As if any of the others are any better.

Especially since social responsibility spending is really no more than a promotional tool, which makes my contribution part of a bank's sainthood. Subsequent corporate advertising makes me feel that I'm paying twice over and getting no credit at all for it.

In my first experience, I wanted to make a donation from a Money Market account to a third party.

The managing entity agreed by phone that this was possible as long as it received the instruction in writing. I was advised to ask my local branch to fax my letter through to the HO.

When I did just that, the counter clerk refused point blank to forward the letter, insisting repeatedly that everything was managed from the branch and no withdrawal could be made except via my current account. Since this was what I had planned to avoid (which the managing entity had well understood), I closed the account on the spot.

I prefer my service providers to check as requested instead of becoming high-handed.

At the next bank, I wanted a reversal made on a credit-card transaction.

Once there, the consultant told me this was impossible. In her favour was the fact that she didn't argue when I told her that I had done as much once before and that I could take her through the steps required.

I suspect that I won the lucky draw that morning. Experience has taught me that dozens of others might have argued the point. This woman respected my understanding of the situation and listened to what I had to say.

She made the few phone calls required, found out which form she would need and we set ourselves to wait for it to be delivered via e-mail, which in banking systems is little better than snail mail. The branch keeps not a single copy of the form.

I remarked that copied instructions left on her desk for the benefit of clients were tatty and did nothing for the bank's image. She agreed, but pointed out that they promoted the insurance agent attached to the bank and not the bank entity itself. I took her point, but didn't change my opinion.

Between us, we then tore apart the life-sized poster image used on the partition between her desk and the next.

Two youngish kids (presumably meant to represent students) sat on a couch laughing...

...the female had not combed her hair for the photo-shoot and was very obviously not wearing a bra. The chap's bare foot was positioned far ahead of his body at exactly the height at which it seemed that his big toe was almost up the consultant's nose (foreshortening made his toe appear bigger than his hand).

Banks pay small fortunes to advertising agencies and models alike to promote their services and this particular poster lends nothing to the bank's image. I will never understand how such a picture could be chosen to represent a supposedly trustworthy, professional, financial institution.

Eventually our form arrived, my business was concluded efficiently and I left.

It had taken an hour instead of ten minutes, but it was at least a productive hour. Within a week I received a call to confirm the reversal of the transaction and thank me for providing all the necessary paperwork (the consultant had thought the additional paperwork unnecessary, but had again deferred to my plea).

At the following bank I asked for some literature after standing in an enquiries queue for 40 minutes.

It could not be found. Twenty more minutes later, I suggested the clerk follow up and ring me once she had it; I would drop by to pick it up. I have patronised this institution since 1976.

That was nine weeks ago and in the following eight weeks I searched the Internet site, wrote a 'contact us' letter, received three e-mails numbering my 'complaint' and eventually, a phone call from a branch I don't deal with suggesting I go in there.

When I said I'd prefer to make my decision independently (an investment of some sort might be required), my caller seemed to lose interest (along with potential commission), but agreed to post me the info, although she seemed a little confused about how postal services work in this country. Banks do not have external e-mail; I no longer have a fax machine.

In effect, experience has taught me that bank consultants seldom convey the whole story.

Three weeks later I went back to my own branch, where I left a very clear message with a rather gormless man who seemed unable to close his mouth but said nothing. His sidekick at the enquiries desk overheard me and remembered my previous visit. She wrote down my message for the bank manager.

I received a call the same afternoon to say the info was waiting for me and I picked it up the following morning. It only took eight weeks to get.

I am now feeling really belligerent because it appears I could have taken the package five years ago, but was at no time notified of this. No letter was sent to me and no 'take one' brochures about it exist within the banking hall. No notice is taken of clients or their needs, particularly if a package cannot increase bank profits.

I remember a time when I rang the bank manager for an appointment and waited no longer than ten minutes outside his office to see him.  My business was concluded in another ten minutes and I could walk out of the building with a loan or product offering.

I bitterly regret the passing of those days!

On leaving the bank the previous day, I had noticed two youngsters putting together a promotional stand for Capitec in the mall's forecourt. Assuming they might be students, I asked one whether he knew enough about the bank's products to help me.

Within ten minutes, I had all the information I needed to make a decision, courtesy of a brand ambassador: the banking fees I could expect had been worked out by faultless mental arithmetic and I would only need to visit a branch once to open the initial account.

To my mind, other banks could do better with well-trained brand ambassadors instead of enquiries staff and consultants!

If you are rooting for Trevor Manuel to take over from Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the IMF, think on this: as our banking customers and banks really need better support from their employees, doesn't a creditable man like Trevor Manuel need far better support from his country?

I think Manuel is, in general, a fine man, if a bit slow on the uptake where the recession was concerned. However, under Manuel's watch corruption and fraud in this country prospered. I wouldn't trust him with my housekeeping budget.

More to the point, although someone from BRIC (note the missing 'S') should probably be considered (being the countries that have grown significantly in recent years) it won't happen because the structure of the IMF is such that new countries cannot hi-jack key roles.

What I do think should be obvious is that Africa could quite easily devise an African Monetary Fund and gather her chicks beneath her own wings, thereby setting her own rules. But no African country should consider fielding a candidate for any fund until it has its house in order.

And that, sadly, takes SA right off the map!

Studio M’s bottom line: Well, here comes Walmart and whether you are for or against, it could be time for us to define the word 'competition' and devise strategies to deal with it. I intend filing the most recent advertising received from Game and Makro, for the sole purpose of comparing today's prices with those at year-end. Let's see the savings and whether Walmart is the incentive that improves SA manufacturing.
Mo

May 2011: The right to know what?

Top-up business newsletter from Mo Haarhoff at Studio M

The right to know what?

It's devastatingly clear to me why the R2K (Right2Know) campaign is essential to help protect the freedoms of South Africans and why the Protection of Information Bill (PIB) must not stain the South African landscape.

I read a lot. In English, because that is the language I best understand.

I'm pretty certain that most people who read this newsletter also understand the dangers of any government being able to legalise cover ups at will; it gives ruling politicians (to whichever party they belong) licence to behave as they like.

Even though most of us receive much of our knowledge second hand via the media, we understand the connotations behind much of what we read. We can follow the logic of a debate or discussion and lights begin to flash when the arguments used seem not to be valid.

We are also probably pretty good at realising that few people can be completely objective; that their own writing is often coloured somewhat by their beliefs...which may not be ours.

We have luck and good educations on our side. We don't let the writing cloud our own vision.

Four mornings a week, an ordinary woman leaves her small home in Umlazi to work in other people's homes. Only one of those times it's for my home, although I often wish I could afford her a second day.

She's been a determined DA supporter since long before I met her and a while ago I read her a newspaper article that reported on some corrupt dealings in government, as adjudicated by court proceedings.

On realising that someone who takes home less than R2 000p/m cannot be expected to relate easily to the billions of rand discussed, I wrote the sums quoted out in numbers and broke down the context into relatively simple arithmetic problems.  She was astounded by the connotations and told me that Zulu papers don't publish the same sort of information that appears in the English newspapers.

Since she cannot afford to buy a newspaper, she only reads what she can get her hands on in Umlazi, sometimes long after publication. 

I guess the press hardly considers her target-market material and you can't blame it.

But she is a voter and the more she and millions like her understand, the more sophisticated our voting population will become; the more likely she would be to join an organisation like R2K and lobby for its principles.

No one who has never booked a hotel room can be expected to know the difference between the daily rate at a mid-range B&B and the same at the Mount Nelson or The One & Only. If you've never quoted for security at your own home, how can you possibly be expected to understand why the amounts reported for security upgrades at 'official residences' were far higher than necessary?

I've started printing out the odd article for her to take home to read.

This way, she has time to absorb it, discuss the content with her family (all the adults, she says, already vote DA) and consider the consequences on the poor of some government misbehaviour.

She relates very personally to the poor, for obvious reasons.

I make sure the articles report rulings, judgements and facts. She claims her family and friends are learning things they never believed possible.  Shocking things about just how much taxpayer money is being wasted while lesser beings suffer.

It occurs to me that the R2K campaign, which is doubtless supported by many capable thinking people, should balance itself with two more things: the need to trust and the right to understanding.

Personally, I don't particularly trust any information that my namesake, Mo/Moe, releases. But I guess that has more to do with the surname he shares with Shabir, than any untruth he has uttered. Or could it be because so many government henchmen, who should be beyond reproach, are not and splutter utter tripe when put on the spot?

But I must concur that in his line of business, some discretion, for some amount of time, is a valid requirement. 

But why he should need to deploy security and intelligence forces into organisations that want more transparency from government is a mystery to me. All he needs to do is work alongside SARS to know your and my business (and pleasure) inside out.

So that more or less settles the (lack of) trust issue.

I would suggest that R2K also makes it its business to start informing the lesser-read via their communities, about some of the nasty details which, through no fault of their own, presently appear to be reserved mainly for the middle classes to read.

It's too easy, in effect, to disparage the choices the majority of the electorate makes and do nothing pro-active to change that. I continually read blog posts that are preaching to me, the converted and slating others who are unlikely to change their vote. If I haven't learnt to toyi-toyi by now, it's pretty certain I'm not about to.

Why not make those who do, your next target market?

It is extremely unwise to underestimate the intelligence of people to whom English is a second language. The issue is not lack of intelligence; it is a lack of communication skills. If you must do the sums for them, go for it!

Let the media also take the battle into local languages. There are, after all, too many black journalists complaining that they lack brilliant futures in white-owned publishing houses. I've yet to understand why they don't start their own. No money? Supply a few journalists with electronic reading devices and let them spread and debate the word(s) door-to door or among family and friends.

The media have, in effect, only one possible secret: their sources. Of course, if the state decides to go ahead with the PIB, bylines could become a thing of the past and journalists would definitely strike for higher wages (it's quite amazing how many will lower their rate for a decent-sized credit).

On the other hand, I don't much care that my name does not appear on much of the writing I do for clients.

I like to see the money in my bank more.

In the same way, I like to see what's happening to public money and know who is making it dishonestly (because, in many cases, that dishonesty is destroying quality of life for others). 

Some secrets that ought to be exposed: those relating to the arms deal, FIFA 2010 World Cup contracts and expenditure, Eskom's BHP power contracts (all of which cost you, the consumer, an arm, leg and your sanity). I'd also like to know more about the use and investment of private-sector pension funds; mining-licence awarding procedures; the costs-to-company of many senior executives and see proper, finite records of expenditure for several organisations...

...which is what R2K wants too.

So this week's print-out for my domestic helper is about the Lotto payouts which funded sing songs and ping pong instead of charities that benefit the poor and disabled. I know that will get her back up!

Needless to say, the chairman of the National Lottery Board does not see any need to personally lobby to change the law under which disbursements are made, despite believing that change is advisable. He claims members of the public and charities must do that.

Which is, in fact, why giving us the detail is so necessary.

Why do we pay someone to do a job when we, the people, are expected to do it for him? Why on earth does a lottery board exist if not to adjudicate and improve what goes on? So that its members can orchestrate proposals from organisations where they duplicate their income?

The National Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF) has three agencies disbursing Lotto funds (one for charities; another for the arts, culture and national heritage, and the last for sports and recreation).

I'd like to suggest a few immediate changes to you, Chairman Nevhutanda:

Why don't we cut out the second and third of those agencies forthwith? We already have state departments responsible for arts, culture and national heritage, and sports and recreation. Both receive Treasury funding.

We don't have a Department of Charities.

So why not make them the sole beneficiaries of the Lotto?

Arts, culture, et al and sports and recreation can carry on lobbying big business and the banks. Judging by the amounts both are charging the public, it seems you are already all in each other's pockets and could save even more paper on proposals than you do e-mailing your customers their statements.

Studio M’s bottom line: If you believe that the people who work for you would benefit from detailed explanation about their salary expectations, government corruption, the need for the public to monitor more than sewerage (or whatever else), consider making the effort to help them understand some things. It could get across the need for us all to continue educating ourselves throughout our lives, and that alone wouldn't be a bad thing. Keep it simple and occasional: no information overload; no mental acrobats, a handout that can be digested slowly and shared is great, and finally, don't punt opinion, but facts. Oh, and if any ladies felt disappointed that they didn't snare Prince William, remember that it's better to get the ring before there's a big, round bald patch on his head!

 Mo

April 2011: A fracking nuclear plot

Top-up business newsletter from Mo Haarhoff at Studio M

A fracking nuclear plot

It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good and after Japan’s threefold disaster last month, reports are coming through of radiation traces noted in the USA’s Ohio rainwater and, in the other direction, China, South Korea, the Philippines and Vietnam.

People as far away as Europe are getting itchy about nuclear power.

It’s the one thing that few of us seemed to register initially: that sea and air travel independently. Time and tide wait for no man, whether carrying ships or every little fish (with apologies to Noel Coward) that swims.

All those welcome south-westerly breezes that cut Durban’s humidity could partially originate in Japan, as could the warm sea current, my atlas says.

No, I’m not trying to put the fear of God into you.

I was pleased to read this week that people who insisted on returning to Chernobyl a month after that disaster are still living happily and healthily there.

They savour local fish, mushrooms and berries, so Sapa reported. One elderly woman grows her own vegetables and claims the supposed dead zone is beautiful in summer when the grass is sweet and the flowers bloom.

Roughly 7 500 Ukrainians still work in the area. They receive what we would call ‘danger pay’ and spend 15 days out of the zone after every 15 days in it. Their radiation levels are tested annually and they limit their intake of scrumptious fresh mushrooms accordingly.

Despite my intense grounding in post-war literature, which always described the Japanese penchant for suicide bombing raids and their merciless treatment of prisoners of war, I have tremendous respect for them.

They are a people who know how to put their heads down and get on with the job.

And a lot was learned from Hiroshima! I have no doubt they will rebuild their country in record time. They have the sort of guts and determination most of us envy. Far more, I suspect, than South Africans.

I speak of course, as one whose brand new washing machine went on the blink yesterday. I am, as a result, virtually considering suicide for the second time in a month. Lord knows what I’d be like if the fridge also packs up!

In the same week that earthquake, tsunami and nuclear fears struck Japan, I was a little disappointed to note that our parliament gaily pushed through its power plan with no queries or amendments.

I thought a brief pause for consideration, at least, was warranted; and perhaps a minute’s silence in deference to all the lost, dead and injured in Japan.

But then, in this country, the previously disadvantaged count far more than the presently disadvantaged, don’t they?

Having caught the tail-end of a news clip from BBC World View, I am reassured that SA’s nuclear programme will cause less damage to the environment than fossil fuels, even in the event of disaster.

But I would still prefer to see more renewable energy and less new fossil-fuel and nuclear infrastructure. Our response to disasters is far slower than Japan’s. Once relocated to plastic tents, we are likely to stay there forever.

Also, when government or state-owned organisations cling to their in-house planning with tenacity, I immediately suspect that someone almighty is stashing away more money than he will ever be able to count...

The joke in all this is that the five sites for new SA nuclear plants were chosen by the apartheid government in the 1980s, M&G reported. Personally, I hadn’t heard of AMD, climate change or rising sea levels back then, let alone new kid on the block ‘fracking’.

Apparently two of the nuclear sites are in the Northern Cape (Schulpfontein and Brazil), not that far from the Karoo, where Shell is set on fracking its little heart out. I can’t define any sure link between fracking and nuclear fallout, but isn’t that the whole point?

Who really can?

But the pointers are all there in the waste. Lewis Gordon Pugh has strong opinions which are worth our consideration: http://blogs.uct.ac.za/blog/science-blog/2011/03/31/speech-by-lewis-gordon-pugh-a.k.a.-the-human-polar-bear

If SA’s aged power plan reflects the dynamic thought processes of Eskom’s brightest minds today, I shudder. I also wonder just how many checks and balances have been considered in the 30-odd years between concept and this presentation. We should, I suspect, be very, very scared of any organisation that hasn’t progressed at all since the 80s.

Tony Stott, Eskom’s nuclear spokesperson, claimed that Koeberg has given Eskom a nuclear safety culture. You’ve gotta laugh...does he suppose Japan had none? So do tell, Stott: what is Eskom’s strategy should the unbelievable happen, a combined earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster?

No, I’m not surprised you haven’t yet worked that one out! Let us know in 30 years.

And don’t forget the bolt that went missing a few years ago.

Energy minister Dipuo Peters says the state plans a nuclear energy supply expanded from 6.5% to 14% of the mix by 2030. Peters also happens to chair the inter-ministerial committee on climate change response.

 Anyone at all see any irony in that? Must be my imagination...

...Which brings me to another little item.

On the Internet, I came across a promotional article written by one of the Gupta brothers. That’s right, the guys who stand accused of fraternising too closely with those South Africans who wield too much power but want even more.

The Guptas also employ one of Zuma’s several sons and our local ill winds whisper that their money allows them not only affluence but also too much influence. Loans made by Indian banks to ‘related’ South Africans have also come up for criticism.

Although SA lies way behind most countries when it comes to Internet marketing, most computer-friendly citizens have at least a vague understanding of the term. Doubtless they have also heard that it is possible, without leaving your desk, to make obscene amounts of money earning commissions on sales.

No formal qualifications to become an Internet marketer are required.

The ability to blog and write the odd promotional article can be acquired. Although the Gupta brothers own Sahara Computers locally, they are now buying into other companies and Zuma’s son is along for the ride.

The article I found infers the Guptas are affiliates of Dell Laptops in India. Dell, in turn, sells into the Indian market via the Internet. Whether Indian banks are lending to SA state-aligned wannabes or the Guptas are lending directly to those South Africans from their own Indian bank account, the plan seems quite ingenious.

And means JZ should not be caught out again. No wonder Shabir now appears superfluous.

Studio M’s bottom line: We are already into the notorious Easter holiday season when South Africans appear to shut up shop for nearly a month. Down our way, Umhlanga Rocks is experiencing power shortages, which really hinders their holiday trade. During the summer holidays, the Glenwood-Umbilo area was plagued with outages that continue to blow our appliances. I suspect it’s all a fracking nuclear plot to convince us!
Mo

March 2011: Small charges, big profits

Top-up business newsletter from Mo Haarhoff at Studio M

Small charges, big profits

Racism is more fun when your own race doesn’t stand accused.

Courtesy of local elections to come, some of us have been glued to screens and newspapers as accusations of overt and more obvious racism evolve. There can be little else that raises the ire of South Africans more than racism and yet most of us harbour some form of guilt about firing or speaking harshly to someone of another race.

The only time I remember it getting really out of hand was when Eugene Terblanche was killed; for a moment then I felt real fear.

And if you are following stories of this nature, Twitter and Facebook are apparently the places to be, although my preference is for news rather than public comment on it. In a world of opinions, I deem mine as good as many and I read in order to form one.

There can be little as frustrating as going into a news’ website and finding that the particular story you want to read is blocked because you are not a subscriber.

‘Quite right,’ I hear the media types echo. ‘You pay and we’ll even deliver it to your door’.

Although I have fond memories of the days when I spread my favourite Sunday newspaper all over my bed and indulged from page one until the end, it became thicker and thicker and full of so much tripe that I couldn’t be bothered to read it all. Some weeks I was still ploughing through it the following Friday, determined to get my outdated money’s worth as the price rose steadily.

Considering my position (knees curled around my ears), I threw out all the bits that didn’t interest me. I don’t like crosswords, most lifestyle writing (whose lifestyle are they talking about anyway?) or the job sections. Some speciality supplements bore me to death and the heaps of advertising I can well do without.

Metro sections are invariably colour coded. In Gauteng they’re ‘black’ news, in KZN, ‘Indian’ and I suppose in Cape Town, ‘Coloured’. Why this news is not considered pertinent to other races raises a question: if general gossip, is it really pertinent to anyone? And why would anyone buy a newspaper just for its metro section?

News that is worthy, is worthy for all and I find the racial connotations irritating.

I now read papers via computer, which is already generally considered way behind the times.

One of today’s major conundrums is how to make online media pay. All over the world, publications are fretting that they cannot afford to pay journalists and photographers decent prices to contribute to their websites. Advertising is hard to come by and the cost of website upkeep is an added extra.

Yet they keep on printing their monthly, weekly or daily issues to sell on the street.

When e-mail and the Internet began edging their way into our lives much was trumpeted about a paperless world. Today, all our service providers brag about how much paper they’re saving by e-mailing invoices and statements to us instead of posting them.

Frankly, they are the only ones saving. In companies all over South Africa (and probably the world) eager little beavers reach their desks each morning and begin the process of downloading their private mail. Once that’s done, they decide which paperwork they want in hard copy and print dozens of pages out on the office printer.

If you don’t believe this, you haven’t worked for a large company since the workers were allocated PCs. Stand around the average office printer for ten minutes and it will spew forth anything from bank and medical aid statements to Googled information for little darlings’ school projects.

No wonder inflation is so rife! The consumers pay for the office paper and ink cartridges as well as company shrinkage programmes. Shouldn’t employees cover those costs from their salaries?

In fact, the only people I know who still want their paperwork posted are freelancers, who count the cost of additional not-for-work printing, but need paperwork in case of tax queries.

Why the media have not yet found the answer to their Internet quandary surprises me.

The sector has, historically, made bold moves. It was newspapers who initially brought in DTP (desktop publishing) and managed, at a click of the proverbial mouse, to put thousands of printing union workers (such as typographers, photo-lithographers and compositors) out of work.

Why don’t they now just eliminate their printers, printing presses and paper altogether? Perhaps not overnight. After all, in South Africa we must take into consideration those who cannot afford Internet access...the same who are extremely unlikely to be regular subscribers to many newspapers.

Of course, it’s easy to read a newspaper in a bus or on a train, but many find it just as easy to access the Internet via their mobiles, so laptops and PCs are not as necessary as once they were. Those who don’t have computers are often those who are less terrified of accessing their mobiles in public due to the high crime rate. They seldom consider themselves prime targets.

But to get back to charging for Internet browsing of your favourite publication...has anyone yet tried asking its reading public to subscribe to only those stories it wants to read? I seldom read every story I could find on a site; I only read breaking news, a few blogs and those articles I haven’t found elsewhere. Locally, a dozen sites every day will carry the identical Sapa story, so a lot of duplication automatically follows.

If a website were prepared to show me all the blurbs free (as they already do), it could tickle me into reading articles at a price per article. For instance, if I registered my credit or debit card and was billed 75 cents per story I opened up, as an avid reader I might spend R5.25 without a qualm. I might also be keen to return to the same site daily.

Were I to subscribe to a magazine, it is more likely that I would want to read this month’s issue from cover to cover, but not all at once. A story a day might do me. By the end of the month I could easily have bought almost every article in the issue at a reasonable price.

And the magazine could have earned from my reading exactly what it would have from a printed issue; without the cost of art directors, paper, printing and distribution. That that wouldn’t do the job market much good is little different to what DTP did to it.

And it’s too late for the media to develop a conscience now.

I wouldn’t be forced to buy the stories I don’t want or drag all that waste paper down to the recycling depot; sheer bliss!

Just as the same vehicle goes through a tollgate several times a month and charges to the driver’s credit or debit card accumulate, so website reading fees could accumulate. This isn’t rocket science and I am only a basic blonde, so I have no doubt that publishers worldwide have a thousand reasons why it cannot be done. But I don’t know them, so please explain?

I do, now, feel real fear about the way government is walking roughshod over the people it serves, whatever their race.

I’m beginning to wonder whether small business stands a chance and how many times the constitution can stand molestation and outright abuse before we all feel obliged to stand up and be counted.

When Johannesburg erupted over its billing debacle a couple of weeks ago, I realised that until a majority of South Africans of all races feel so strongly about one thing that they all rise together, government will be in the rand seats in more ways than one.

I’m not aiming for satire when I say that in my opinion, whites are sometimes too polite, they grumble continually; Indians still feel some loyalty to the ANC so they just whinge; Coloureds, capable of quite the most brilliant turn of phrase, sit on the fence complaining surreptitiously and blacks just give bad governance far too much slack for their own good.

Oh! And I believe generalisations, like comparisons, are odious!

That’s my opinion, of course and it needn’t be yours. But where there’s a meeting of minds, race is completely unimportant. It’s all too seldom that white South Africans aren’t in the thick of race rows, so last week’s debacles were such a relief!

Studio M’s bottom line: All this Gupta-Zuma jnr. business got me thinking about JZ ordering a fleet of seven luxury cars to transport his entire family around while in Durban. I immediately thought he might be planning to take the whole shebang on the campaign trail with him, but rumour has it he’s just acquired another little holiday nook hereabouts. When some of those wives and children earn independent incomes, is the state still required to fund free travel (Zuma jnr and the poppie in Isidingo, for instance). Surely they should buy their own airline tickets and drive/hire their own vehicles?

Mo