“Why Africa is Poor” – some quotes

I have started reading Greg Mills’ book, “Why Africa is Poor: and what Africans can do about it.” It is a very insightful book and I would like to give you some quotes from the book.

“The way in which the world has preferred to deal with Africa’s poverty and development challenges has been with increased volumes of aid. As will be seen [in this book], no country has developed solely through aid. Most of the donors themselves did not develop in this way. To the contrary: aid can have a rash of unintended and negative consequences which make development less, not more, likely. ... Not only was aid not working; aid was doing harm across the continent and further afield.” (p7,8)

“Yet no amount of money was going to ‘fix’ African states if their leaders continued to make wrong development choices. Very few Africans (or other recipients) will admit to making big mistakes. This might be because of Africa’s turbulent and painful colonial history, when the sort of development plans attempted by colonial powers were really little different in practical (as opposed to political) terms to those tried today. As Easterly observed in his development tour de force, The White Man’s Burden, while there was a shift in language from ‘uncivilised’ to ‘underdeveloped’ and ‘savage peoples’ to the ‘Third World’ as part of a ‘genuine change of heart away from racism and towards respect for equality ... a paternalistic and coercive strain survived’. As a result, ‘Soon was born the development expert, the heir to the missionary and the colonial officer.’” (p9-10)

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Telkom to enter mobile market in South Africa

South Africa is by no means a rich country. Yet, somehow it flourishes in the mobile phone market. Currently we have 3 mobile operations (MTN, Vodacom and Cell-C). We used to have Virgin Mobile, but I never met anyone that actually used them.

Later in the year, the 4th mobile operator in the form of Telkom will enter the South African market. Is there really anything that Telkom can add to the market apart from its current monopoly in the fixed-line market? Yes, I know, we do have a 2nd fixed-line operator in the form of Neotel, but have you heard of anyone, except Neotel employees, using them in a private capacity?

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NERSA hands ESKOM 26% price hike ceiling

NERSA, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa has handed ESKOM a 26% staggered annual price hike for the next 3 years instead of the requested 35% per annum (2010 - 24.8%; 2011- 25.8%; 2012 - 25.9%). See this post for how you're budget is affected. The very first request from ESKOM was 45% annually.

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Will ANC benefit from Eskom price hikes?

It has come to light that the ANC has a R5.7 billion ($760m) share in a new deal to supply Eskom with boilers for new power stations needed to supply electricity to South Africa.

On this issue the leader of the ACDP, Kenneth Meshoe, asked South African president, Jacob Zuma if it was indeed true that the ANC had such a share in the Eskom deal.

If this is indeed true, then it is clear that it is a conflict of interest for the ANC to be involved in this deal, and that it would be impossible for the ANC to make a decision that would actually benefit the country's electricity users in the face of Eskom's request from Nersa that they be allowed to hike electricity fees at 35% per annum for the next three years. Why would the ANC oppose such a price hike, since they would be the beneficiaries of huge sums of money?

It is clear to me that the ANC is in it to make money from the South African public and is riding this ill-conceived knight in shining armour, saviour of the masses horse to death before the masses, if ever, find out that the ANC is an immoral organization hard at work lining their own pockets with loads of cash.

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ANCYL wants more to be educated

ANC Youth League (ANCYL) spokesman Floyd Shivambu said that South Africa's educational system is not adequate enough to serve the country's skills development needs.

Of course, this is once again the old mantra of the ANC youth league, "Gimme, gimme, gimme!" Of course, it has nothing to do with the ABBA song. ANCYL thinks that since the ANC is running the country, that they should simply use public money all over the place to educate their cadres! Because, as this happens again and again, whenever ANCYL or even the ANC wants something for the citizens of this country, what they really mean is that they want it for those that are ANC/ANCYL members. I have heard so many times from people that I have spoken personally with, that they were turned away just before the final hurdle in job hunting merely because they were members of non-ANC parties. This scheme will once again be a way of keeping public education within ANC circles, using taxes paid for by the ordinary man in the street.

ANCYL must think that South Africa is rolling in the dough. In the U.S.A. the average in tuition fees at the top 18 universities is around R277,500 ($37,000) per annum. In England it works a bit differently, but there it comes to around R38,700 (£3,225) per annum.

Year	U.S.A.	England
1	R2,775,000,000	R387,000,000
2	R5,550,000,000	R774,000,000
3	R6,325,000,000	R1,161,000,000
4	R9,100,000,000	R1,548,000,000
TOTAL:	R23,750,000,000	R3,870,000,000

The above table shows what it would cost South Africa the first 4 years. Almost R24,000,000,000 in the U.S.A. and R4,000,000,000 in England! After the first 4 years, it will cost South Africa R36,400,000,000 per four years in the U.S.A. and R6,192,000,000 in England for those 4 year periods. This is assuming there are no fee increases over those periods. These exorbitant amounts of money are only for tuition fees and do not include the living expenses of the student! From the start of the 4th year of this program, South Africa will be forking out between R1,514,000,000 and R9,100,000,000 per annum.

According to a News24 report, ANCYL wants this "scholarship [to] take care of all the students' needs, including transport, accommodation, tuition fees, food and a monthly stipend." This could essentially double, and in some cases triple the amount spent on each student that the taxpayers would be paying for! This means that tax payers will pay between R3,028,000,000 and R4,542,000,000 per annum for South African students to study outside of South Africa! This amount excludes studying in the U.S.A.!

Apart from the already planned NHI tax, does this mean that if ANCYL gets its way we would get NET (National Education Tax)?

Does ANCYL really think that South Africa can afford to pay between 3 and 4 billion Rand per annum to send many undeserving kids into another country to study? What if these kids don't get their way over in FAR, FAR AWAY? Will they strike and burn down buildings and destroy property like they do here?

How many of those 10,000 kids that will be sent out on my hard earned money will actually make a success of it? What would be ANCYL's measure of success in this program? Who will be sent? Will students be sent based on skin colour (typical apartheid system) or on merit? Oh yes, merit to the ANC means having an ANC membership, doesn't it? How many of these students will actually qualify for entrance in those foreign universities?

Once again ANCYL shows that our country is in deep trouble if they are the barometer of the kind of leadership that they will provide to the country in the future. Their track record is against them: from a wood-working failure in Julius Malema and the nationalization of mines to this hare-brained educational scheme!

A country allowed to be ruled by fools will produce many more fools!

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Bank Irresponsibility

At a time when the world economy is in recession, and especially here in South Africa where we already have an economy that can certainly not be seen as one of the strongest by a long shot, banks should encourage people to save and not to extend themselves too far. Yet, banks in South Africa are encouraging people to live more in credit and to become bound to those banks! This is simply irresponsible!

First National Bank, one of South Africa's biggest banks, is currently having a competition, running between 15 Nov 2009 and 31 Jan 2010, through which a person can win back his weekly spend on his credit card up to a maximum amount per card category. To see how a person can win, see the graphic here below.

Based on the gold card category, if I am nuts enough (there are many such nuts out there), thinking that I could possibly win a week's spending back to a value of R6000, and I keep on trying, I could soon sit with a maxed out card with say, R40000 in debt. That means I bought stuff to the value of R40000 to win back R6000 and the bank owns me!

I know exactly what the bank would say. "You should know your limits! It is not our fault if you spend too much!" That is like telling a donkey not to over extend itself to get to the proverbial carrot on a stick. Many people are like that donkey, and while the bank holds out that carrot, the donkey will keep pursuing! Of course, FNB will not take responsibility for the donkey falling off a cliff while running after the carrot, which was held there by FNB, that was always just those few inches out of reach!

FNB, and other banks should be doing more to get people to save money and not to enslave them. That is essentially what FNB is hoping for, the enslavement of their clients! People will go out and swipe those cards more and more, ensuring FNB of a much longer period of higher income.

By having competitions like this one, FNB and other banks try to ensure its own long term existence without thinking what it does to the people they enslave through this unconscionable trap! The fact is that they are willing to give away R220000 while they will be making millions via people having to pay back their credit card debt! SHAME ON YOU, FNB!

"The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender." - Proverbs 22:7

"Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. There is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of its filling a vacuum, it makes one." - Ben Franklin

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ESKOM disses South African electricity users

ESKOM, as I have written before, is a grossly mismanaged public enterprise, that also has an energy monopoly in South Africa. As a para-statal, and the only energy provider, it could have been mistakenly thought that ESKOM would have the integrity and moral courage to think of the South African electricity user before turning itself into a dung heap of morons that have no inkling of an idea what they are about to do to South Africans and the economy.

Just a few months ago, an electricity price hike of 31% came into effect. Suddenly, now, ESKOM wants to go into overdrive when it comes to price hikes. Can you believe that those nincompoops running that institute of insanity want a price hike of 45% per year for the next three years? What are they trying to achieve? Running South Africa and its citizens financially into the ground? That is exactly what they will achieve! ESKOM is fast becoming a economic black hole.

Let's look at this in actual monetary terms. If a person paid only R100 per month for electricity before the last 31% tariff hike, he will end up paying R399.37 after the three 45% tariff hikes proposed by ESKOM over the next three years. That is almost 300% higher per month! Have a look:

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Christian Voting Must be Biblically Based

It is always interesting to talk to people to hear their criteria for choosing who to vote for in an election. With the 2009 elections coming up on 22 April, it is time again to hear the ideas of people. People have different reasons for why they vote for certain political parties.

Most people look at financial issues, hence, their political outlook is mostly for personal gain. How can the government make my life better? This of course shows a dependence on the government. This is also not just an issue for the poor! The rich have the same thoughts. They would like a government that will ensure that their riches don't get squandered on unnecessary taxes, or will at least see to it that the money of the rich will keep on growing.

As Christians, we march to the beat of a different drum… a heavenly drum! And that drum is not beaten by us, the Christians, but by the Lord of the universe, Jesus Christ Himself. It is very much a Lordship issue, even in deciding who we will vote for in a political election.

God is not uninterested in politics! This is not that one sphere of life where God leaves man to his own devices. This is not a no-go zone for God! "The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. (Ps 24:1)" To think that God can be excluded from any sphere of life, no matter how corrupt it has become, shows a naivety that does not belong with clear thinking people.

Politics, essentially has nothing to do with power. It primarily has to do with justice and care for a nation. It is exactly the quest for power by politicians that nations end up like Zimbabwe, DRC, Middle-East and China. Politics is about the good of the country, not about the individuals leading the country. As Lord Acton once said: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." This is too much of a reality in our modern world not to take notice of it.

So, how does this choice of who to vote for affect Christians? When we look at who gets the vote in South Africa, it makes one wonder how many Christians actually march to the heavenly drum! Up until our last elections, it has been the ANC and DA as number one and two parties respectively.

Those results are quite perplexing, considering that about 70% of the population claims to be Christian. Why is this perplexing? Well, if one looks at the South African Voter's Guide, it becomes clear that these two parties stand antithetically opposed to Biblical Christian values.

In all of life, Christians are admonished by the Scriptures to obey God. Why is it that they think it would be acceptable to disobey when they vote in elections?

Christians simply do not not have the luxury of making up their "own minds" on issues that have been clearly spelt out in the Scriptures. That is on any issue in life. Yet, it is true that the Scriptures do not tell us who to vote for. However, that does not give us an escape route to vote for parties that do not stand on the Lord's side!

In making up our minds who to vote for, there should be a clear procession of thought on the issues. As Christians, our decision must be guided by clear Biblical mandate first. That means, where the Bible speaks clearly, we have to follow. If the Bible is clear on the issue of murder, we cannot vote for a party that supports abortion, ala ANC and DA. The Bible is clear on murder. You get the point! Therefore, Biblical moral issues must be adhered to first in our decision before any other issues that are based on conscience or expediency.

So, issues such as abortion, pornography, homosexuality, prostitution and the like must take precedence in your decision who to vote for. The Bible is clear on these issues. There are clear commands and Biblical doctrine on each of these issues and other moral issues. As a result, issues of conscience, on which the Bible has no clear teaching, must play second fiddle to moral issues. Even more so, issues of expediency such as simple economic issues.

If Christians do not use their votes towards establishing Biblically righteous government, they are indeed using their votes towards evil. And, perpetuating evil in this way is clear disobedience against the clear statutes of God. "Without virtue, a society can be ruled only by fear, a truth that tyrants understand all too well."¹ Already, the ANC is planning to amend the South African Constitution if they win a two-thirds majority.

Voting by a Christian must result in a better country with justice for all. A better country can only be seen as a righteous country. It does not have to be a country where all its citizens are Christians, but it will be a country where the people understand what is right and what is wrong, and where the law and its application brings true justice for all.

There are many Christians that vote for both the ANC and DA. They vote for the ANC as the so-called liberators from apartheid, and others vote for the DA as a so-called strong opposition to the ANC. With the upcoming elections, there will also be the breakaway party, COPE. When you look at the SA Voter's Guide, you will realise that COPE's policies are exactly the same as that of the ANC. In fact, of the 8 issues in the guide, the ANC and COPE get 0/8 and the DA get 2½. The ½ of the DA here is only because of stated policy, disregarding their poor voting record in parliament.

Remember, voting is a Christian duty. In a democracy, your vote can actually effect change. Your vote can move this country closer towards justice and righteous government. Don't throw that vote away by denying a party perhaps just that one vote it needs to have someone put into parliament. Further, don't waste your vote on the memories of so-called past liberation or on the promise of so-called strong opposition, especially when both of these sides stand for very much the same when it comes to moral issues.

Let your vote count towards righteous government, and vote for a Christian party such as the ACDP or CDA.

Christian, do not support and perpetuate immorality by giving your vote to parties that do the same! Do not vote through fear, but rather let your vote reinforce Christian Biblical values!

Notes

1. Colson, Charles and Pearcey, Nancy, How Now Shall We Live?, Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois, 1999, p373.

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E.U. Prez says Obama's economic policies are harmful

"European Union President Mirek Topolanek told the European parliament Wednesday that Obama's economic policies were harmful to the U.S. economy and the global economy…

"'All these steps, these combinations and permanency, is the road to hell,' said Topolanek, who is also the president of the Czech Republic. 'We need to read history books and the lessons of history, and the biggest success of the EU is the refusal to go this way.'"

Read "EU Leader Says Obama's Economic Policies Are 'Road to Hell'."

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The Liberal economic plan to destroy America

Read James Simpson’s commentary on the Cloward-Piven Strategy:

“Liberals self-righteously wrap themselves in the mantle of public spirit. They ardently promote policies promising to deliver the poor and oppressed from their latest misery - policies which can only find solution in the halls of government. But no matter what issue one examines, over the last fifty plus years, the liberal prescription has almost always been a failure.

“Why is this so? Why does virtually every liberal scheme result in ever-increasing public spending while conditions seem to get continually worse? There are a number of reasons…

“And God save us from Barack Obama.”

Part 1
Part 2

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Ever wondered what a trillion dollars looked like?

Well, stop wondering. For a visual picture of what $1,000,000,000,000 (trillion) look like, visit this web page!

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Obama ‘change’ will blow American money, that’s all!

HT: Dan Phillips

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Is this South Africa’s future?

I hope not!

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2009-30=1979

Is it really that bad now? Many may think so, especially those who were only kids in 1979.

Ben Stein wrote a short note about conditions 30 years ago:

“Think the stock market is bad now? We thought it was bad in 1979. It has risen since then -- even with the recent crash -- by almost ten times. Not ten percent. Ten times. Think real estate has dropped now? It has but it is still about four times what it was in 1979 here in Southern California. Things look bleak now, and they are, but they are a lot better than they were in 1979 in many, many ways.”

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