Our economy?

[Dave A]

I got abused (mostly in PM's) for predicting these issues on a rival forum....

It's the sort of thing that is going to evoke strong emotions. In a way it's a positive sign - that there is still such strong patriotism around.

I know that I want things to work out for this country. But I also believe that if we are to solve the problems, we need to face the realities, as uncomfortable as that might be right now.

[Moneymaker]

Well I guess there has to be some origins and reason for the saying "Dont shoot the messenger"...

Patriotism is excellent and a vital ingredient but the problem comes in when it is mixed with blatant arrogance. Despite how you could try you can not teach an arrogant person anything.....they already think they know it all!

I hope we can get some humble people into leadership roles. (read: Jim Collins - Good to great).

[murdock]

sometimes i wonder if there is not a bigger picture which we are all missing...like maybe the aim is to get as many of us out of here...by making it unbearable to live here then start bringing in people from china and other over populated countries to start a new life here...getting their foot in here with investment etc...buying countries to dump waste...bring a county to it knees then move in and take over...all these sorts of issue which are huge problems in other countries...or maybe i just woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

watching the news bigger ships arriving with more cheap chinese junk...and fruit and veg and scrap metal leaving for china.

[Dave A]

I hope we can get some humble people into leadership roles. (read: Jim Collins - Good to great).

Level 5 leadership. It would help but how often do we see quiet, unassuming leaders in politics?

sometimes i wonder if there is not a bigger picture which we are all missing...like maybe the aim is to get as many of us out of here...

In considering that possibility, you'd have to ask how that would benefit the people that stayed.

[murdock]

dont worry i have death threats for a post i put on a different forum...i had to get a restraining order against the person just in case... but looking forward to the confrontation...it is now called self defence...and bearing in mind the person is on a suspended sentence for assult already i can use whatever means neccessary to defend myself.

[duncan drennan]

sometimes i wonder if there is not a bigger picture which we are all missing...like maybe the aim is to get as many of us out of here...

I was watching the latest reports on the xenophobic attacks and listening to the reactions of various high up politicians and then marrying that to the number or crises we've been bombarded with this year.

One of the things that I suspect is that we have a bunch of people who are inexperienced running the country and learning lessons the hard way. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but how we go forward from here is. Because government tends to be a slow moving beast we probably have to look 10 years back and examine what was going on then to establish what we did wrong.

So going back to Jim Collins, do we have leaders who are willing to learn from their mistakes and build momentum in the right direction, or leaders who will continue in a negative spiral.

[Dave A]

Here is the sort of story that makes me wonder about gov strategy.

In a move that will see an additional two million South Africans receiving social grants, Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya on Friday announced that people earning more than R2 000 will soon qualify for welfare assistance.

Addressing the National Assembly during the department's budget vote debate, Skweyiya said the current means test, where people earning more than R1 500 a month did not qualify for grants, had kept many people out of the social security system.

"Consequently, we have agreed to work towards the removal of the archaic means test on certain grant types. This will have the consequence of removing the urban/rural qualification divide whilst raising the threshold to R2 200 per month for child support, old age and disability grants," he said.

The changes were meant to assist the poor to cope with current economic challenges characterised by high inflation and rising food prices.

"All these reforms in our social security system will go a long way towards widening the social security safety net and may see the entry into the system of 2 million deserving people," he said.

"This exercise will however, pose a fiscal challenge which may require either a gradual phasing out of the means test or reconsideration of the tax threshold levels," Skweyiya said.
full story from IOL here

It's throwing money at the problem instead of treating the root causes. And then there is the effect on the fiscus... More money being taken from enterprises and individuals who could create more employment to finance handouts.

Or maybe I'm just being too insensitive.

[Marq]

Pretty soon if the government carries on in this way, I will pass the means test.
No job No money No future and man am I going to be mean then.
But at least I should qualify for a grant somewhere in the many categories of hand outs. Who knows maybe I'll be mean enough to qualify for a few categories.

So you guys out there had better keep making big bucks and stop inflation and eating cause the coffers must be full when I come round.

[IanF]

I heard that there are about 8 million people in SA receiving a Government grant of some sort. This frightens me.

[Moneymaker]

There's an election coming up.........so this is no surprise. They're buying votes amongst those who they have failed to address in the last 15 years with housing etc. Since most domestics dont earn R2000 per month, this will possibly see even more people giving up work which will increase unemployment, and since taxes will have to go up to afford this benefit, maybe there will be employers encouraging their domestics to take up the offer.....???