Gone are the songs and poems, but cheer prevails
October 28, 2009
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan certainly sounded confident yesterday that the government was not spending too much, that it was not pushing up the deficit too much and that social spending was not out of control. Pushing the boundaries a little in times of economic difficulties seemed to be a jolly sensible thing to do.
He appeared to be in a jovial mood at a press briefing during the routine "lock-up" of parliamentary and financial journalists yesterday morning ahead of the presentation of the medium-term budget policy statement. There was none of the moodiness regularly displayed at briefings by his predecessor, now Minister of Planning Trevor Manuel. Gone, too, were the poems and songs that peppered the speeches of his predecessor.
The only time he appeared to be a little evasive was when a journalist asked whether it was true - as is regularly reported - that he was a member of the SACP.
He looked down at his pockets and then at his socks. "I can't find my (party) card at the moment," he quipped. "My socks are black." He said he wanted to be quite clear: he had been a member of the ANC and of the SACP since the 1970s. It was not a formal thing, as in those days you just became "an activist" and participated in the activities of the organisations.
Gordhan had been schooled in "the methodologies" that Marxism "had to offer", but there were a set of values that one believed in. "You live your life along the lines of those values." Those motivated one to do whatever possible to achieve a higher level of social justice for all people.
He had learnt to listen to people who held a variety of views, he insisted, arguing that this was a way of enriching oneself. "Give yourself the chance to listen to all the views," he said merrily.
Still, the journalist insisted that he had not answered the question: "Are you a member of the SACP?" To which he replied: "Not at the moment, no." page 20
Flogging dead horses
It may come as news to the labour department's new director-general, Jimmy Manyi, but the "bakkie brigade" labour brokers he aims to ban are already illegal.
According to the Labour Relations Act, the suppliers of labour, in the act given the title of temporary employment services (TES), are the employers of the labour they supply, and are obliged to adhere to the existing labour laws and regulations applying to all employers.
The act states: "A person whose services have been procured for or provided to a client by a temporary employment service is the employee of that temporary employment service."
Therefore, the TES, or labour brokers who do not adhere to this, are already banned. That they continue to operate is because there is no enforcement of the law. This, in the final analysis, comes down to the labour department, which has consistently complained that it does not have enough inspectors to monitor more established employers, let alone the "bakkie brigade".
In an environment of mass unemployment, the bakkie brigade can also hide behind the constitution, which says: "Every person has the right to choose their trade, occupation or profession freely." On this basis, they could claim that they are only providing transport and placement services to the self-employed entrepreneurs they pick up along road sides. Like "self-employed" waiters, baristas and bar personnel in the hospitality sector, this may entrench even more exploitation.
As a few commentators have already noted, the ban the brokers brigade should first advance is a comprehensive alternative strategy before calling for banning of a practice already regulated, at least in theory, by the Labour Relations Act
Avoid a buying babalaas
The festive season is fast approaching, there is summer in the air and holidays to look forward to, but frivolous spending is one of the pitfalls. Given that thousands of consumers are still in dire straits despite the fall in interest rates, perhaps a word of caution is appropriate.
It was reported by Statistics SA earlier this month that the number of individual summonses for debt rose by 13.3 percent year on year in the eight months to August, compared with a decline of 9.8 percent in the same period a year earlier.
Investec said in a research note that this tallied with the Bureau of Market Research consumer vulnerability index, which showed that in the third quarter, consumers' financial position deteriorated further, leaving them on the brink of much vulnerability.
Job losses, high levels of debt and extreme poverty were the main reasons for this. Without sufficient savings, consumers have no room to maneouvre, resulting in an increasing number of people cancelling policies to cover household expenditure.
Investec said it was expected that higher electricity tariffs proposed for next year would add to the burden - as would taxes imposed by the national health insurance.
The Debt Councillors' Association said about 115 000 people had applied for debt counselling, and this was rising by about 9 000 a month.
Coupled with this was the continued rise in company liquidations. Data released this week shows that the number of corporations filing for liquidation in the nine months to September grew by 25.9 percent year on year. This was a lower rate of increase than in previous months. But liquidations are still rising, meaning jobs are still being lost putting more people at risk.
Many will not be in a position to spend recklessly this festive season. But for those who still can, take of note of this: a lot of the troubles of those that now face summonses and judgments for unpaid debts are due to store cards.
So caution this festive season seems wise, lest when the new year comes it becomes a struggle to recover from such excesses.
Edited by Peter DeIonno. With contributions by Donwald Pressly, Terry Bell and Samantha Enslin-Payne
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