Hands up who thought I was being sarcastic. Sorry to disappoint. Eddie Funde and Dali Mpofu, respectively chairman and CEO of the South African public broadcaster, are right on the money with their latest statements.
Ivo Vegter
Ivo Vegter writes and argues for fun and profit. He is a columnist, magazine journalist and apprentice model shipwright. In his spare time, he helps run a research company. He specialises in the tech and telecoms industries, but keeps a blog on politics, economics and other curiosities on the spike
Posted inNews/Politics, Sport
‘Bafana Bafana’ offends Mbeki
Thabo Mbeki, presumably in an effort to appear even-handed, has lashed out against the nicknames of our national football teams. Even though the people chose them.
Posted inBusiness, Tech
Amazon patent insanity isn’t over
No sooner had a judge carved huge holes in the famous one-click-checkout patent which Amazon.com swindled out of the US Patent and Trademark Office, than the very same idiots at the very same mental institution awards it a patent on another amazing new thing.
Posted inMedia
Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?
I can’t help thinking that we used to handle violent behaviour in children far more elegantly than we appear to do today. Ever thought that violence may, in fact, be quite normal?
Posted inBusiness, Tech
Who needs private capital?
In this country, the notion of private companies risking their capital on infrastructure projects is a no-no. While it complains about “market failure” and high prices, the Financial Mail’s Duncan McLeod reports that the government has just decided to spend $2 billion (!) on its own undersea cable project.
Posted inBusiness
Classic price-control crisis
Browsing the website of the state-owned electricity producer, Eskom, where “loadshedding” schedules are published, is a depressing pastime for a sunny Friday afternoon. It’s a tale of woe that underscores the truth of the classic economic argument that if you control prices, you’ll get only shortages for your efforts.
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
‘Unauthorised’ Mbeki doccie screened
The “unauthorised” documentary about South African president Thabo Mbeki has finally been screened on the SABC, after more than a year of to-ing and fro-ing.
Posted inNews/Politics
Close the United Nations
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s talk at Columbia University was a wonderful comedy show. But while his reception at Columbia is one thing, the respect the United Nations accords him is quite another.
Posted inNews/Politics
Face it, adult men are uncaring scum
This piece of politically-correct tripe was South Africa’s contribution to a UN waffle-fest on climate change recently: Women and children are particularly vulnerable to the devastating effects of climate change….
Posted inBusiness, Tech
Department of Crony Capitalism
Chris Barron of the Sunday Times went in search of meaningful answers from the director-general in the Deparment of Communications. He found none, but published what he heard anyway.
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics, Tech
Just abolish the Dept of Communications
ITWeb reports that a letter has been sent to the police, half the government oversight committees and the presidency, in which fraud and kickback accusations related to the hiring of staff in South Africa’s Department of Communications are alleged.
Posted inMedia, News/Politics, Tech
Trusting Wikipedia: a sea change
Here’s an interesting development. Long and acrimonious battles have been fought over the question, “Can you trust Wikipedia?” Now, at last, there’s a new answer to this question.