September 19, 2006

By Tony Ehrenreich

While we celebrate the prospect of the 2010 World Cup, we should not deceive ourselves that building a classy stadium is the best way to promote development that benefits those most in need, writes Cosatu provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich

The bid to stage the 2010 World Cup has been won amid great excitement, and this is no doubt a good thing as it gives us an opportunity to showcase our country on the world stage.

The enthusiasm for the World Cup coming to South Africa is linked to a feeling of great patriotism. It is of course wonderful to feel patriotic about the country we all love so much, but we should not see concerns expressed about the World Cup as being unpatriotic.

We raise critical questions out of a deep concern that the kind of projects we are pursuing are not going to deliver a better life for all.

Our sense of patriotism compels us to look at the World Cup critically, as our obligation is to the majority of South Africans, not to the small elite that has done so well in the first decade of democracy and who stand to benefit from the World Cup.

Winning the bid is great, but it should not be presented as the means through which the difficulties in South Africa will be overcome, and the lives of poor people magically transformed.

The focus on big schemes is important, but the direction they take should promote developments that benefit those communities that require an urgent intervention - the poor, marginalised majority that votes for the ANC.

The wealthy are doing fine in South Africa so the government need not worry about them. They need no help, they can buy any services they need and have no need to look to the public service.

The poor black people who voted for the ANC are the people we as a government should focus on. It is by how we improve their lives that we should be measuring our success, and we have clearly not done too well in this department.

Government policies have focused on making rich people richer in the belief that the wealth will trickle down. Unfortunately this has not happened, not surprisingly, as such policies have failed everywhere else in the world.

As a reminder, these are some of the realities of South Africa's poor:


A 400 000 housing backlog in the city of Cape Town.


40% unemployment in the country.


Destruction of the social fabric of poor communities by poverty.


Pervasive gangsterism and drug abuse.

So, lead projects in housing, public transport or safety - our priorities - should be welcomed, as these directly stimulate the economy while providing basic needs.

Yet, the big projects of the past have seen the focus being redirected from the priorities of the poor to those of the wealthy and this undermines the credibility of the state's intervention in economic and social development.

Let's examine a few of the big projects presently under way.

The arms deal: This was sold to the nation on the basis of the counter-trade opportunities, that we were told would lead to investment in productive capacity in South Africa and the creation of the jobs that we so desperately need.

Well, the job losses that followed at Denel, the arms company, were the first signal of concerns and unrealised promises.

There have subsequently been some jobs created but they have been minimal, while the damage to the country's morale - through spending billions on war machinery when the only war we should be waging is the war on poverty - is immeasurable.

The corruption that is a feature of all arms deals has plunged the country into a deep political crisis that threatens to undo the immense gains we have made since the advent of democracy.

This big project that has made some individuals very wealthy has not benefited the people for whom we promised to build a better life..

The Gautrain: This project is driven by the national and the provincial government to provide transport to those travelling to and from Pretoria.

It is mainly wealthy business people who will be able to afford the high cost of the tickets. This focus on the wealthy when the crisis in the public transport sector is growing by the day is misguided and fails to meet the most urgent needs of poor people.

The most urgent transport need is fixing Metrorail and that, surely, should be the focus of any upgrades to the rail system. Bus routes have not been extended for years in spite of increased housing developments in new areas.

Taxis only operate when there are enough customers to make them financially viable, so effectively there is no public transport for people after hours.


The housing programme: Houses built in the N2 Gateway project are another good example of development gone wrong. These houses are essentially for middle-income earners, not for the lower-income earners who need homes desperately, having been backyard dwellers for years or losing their homes in fires in Joe Slovo and elsewhere.

When the project started it was under the Freedom Charter slogan of "there shall be houses, security and comfort" - meaning for the people who needed them most.

Now that it is done the people who need it cannot afford it and the people who can afford it are too scared to move in, as those who have been sidelined are going to protest at their doors. The government does not know how to proceed and so keeps delaying the date of occupation.

The point surely is to understand the needs of the people and to respond to those needs, not to build something else and present it as if it is for the poor.

And now for the World Cup. The consultation on this has been managed in the worst possible way, so that the legitimacy and credibility of the project has been compromised from the outset.

It would appear as if Fifa has more say in deciding what we are to do and how we are to do it than South African citizens.

Increasingly, the lesson is that there is no such thing as a benevolent government that decrees things to be in the interest of the poor. We need to stand up and engage the government to ensure that the interest of the majority is served, lest we find ourselves after the World Cup seeing only the wealthy and the new BEE elite benefiting from the soccer extravaganza.

Big companies have set the agenda for these events since they are the main ones to profit from the World Cup throughout the world.

This means Coca-Cola and the big hotel groups and tourist establishments would be the real beneficiaries due to the increased tourist volumes. It does represent a great opportunity for people across the world to come and visit our country and see the sights, though it's slightly ironic that we have not put in place the mechanisms to ensure that all South Africans get the opportunity to see their beautiful country.

The ticket prices also will mean that very few of our people will actually get into the stadiums to see the matches live, access to the stadiums being restricted mostly to foreign guests and wealthy South Africans.

The focus, if the development is to be directed at the poor, should be on prioritising the needs of poor people and then planning around that, allowing the needs of the South African majority to drive projects and further catalyse growth. The benefits to poor people must be prescribed upfront. It can't only be a possible consequence of development.

The stadium, which seems a bit unnecessary given our other priorities and the fact that we have other perfectly good stadiums, is not even going to be built where our people live.

The focus on local procurement and decent labour standards have not featured in any of the discussions so far, yet working class communities are led to believe that this World Cup is for their benefit.

Where are the clothes of the players going to come from, or the plumbing and electrical equipment of the new hotels to be built? If we can prescribe 25% BEE ownership to companies to accommodate the new black elite then surely we can specify South African-made products to create jobs for South African workers too.

This World Cup may be a nice to have, but it should not be presented as the best way in which to speed up delivery to our people.

It clearly is not. There are many other ways in which to speed up delivery through infrastructural development.

The nation is excited about the World Cup and it's nearly sacrilegious to criticise it, but unless we evaluate more carefully what we do in pursuit of our people's interest, the failures of ill-conceived projects will continue to tear apart the social fabric of our society.

The World Cup is a reality now, so let's rally behind it and ensure that it is a great success, let's make it work for all our people.

Unless all of our people feel they have an investment in it, feel that they stand to benefit from it, some may continue to mug tourists, or not work towards its success.

Ensuring that this World Cup really contributes to addressing poverty and unemployment and propels the society to greater equality is the best way in which to ensure its success.

Where I live and work we have a huge Oval. There are millions of these Daddy Long Legs on the grass. This weekend one of our staff posted this on our Intranet:

Hi All, since Ila kicked off our Autumn nature-watching with her mushroom report... I thought I'd share with you some of my Daddy Long Legs research.

On the way home from church Mark happened to say 'remember all those horrible grey larvae we had earlier this year... I bet they were of the Daddy Long Legs since we had so many'....

I thought that this could only have been a coincidence... so with the help of Google decided to find out... and it turns out Mark's hunch was RIGHT.

Daddy Long Legs (aka Crane Fly) do indeed lay eggs in grass (which is why we have so many) and the larvae are the fattest around April/May before they pupate and emerge as clouds of daddy long legs in late August/early Sept.

So those hundredds of grey larvae we had in spring are leatherjackets - the larvae of Daddy long legs. Nature lovers amongst us may have known this... but for all you fellow ignorants out there... I thought I'd share this new found knowledge. Here are a few snippets from the internet on Daddy Long Legs/Leatherjackets...


Leatherjackets are the larval stage of the crane fly or daddy-long-legs. Leather jacket larvae are about 2.5cm (1" long), greyish black in colour, legless and with no distinct head.
In summer leatherjackets pupate. In August they start to lay eggs re-infesting lawns. Within two weeks eggs hatch. The young start to feed, continuing throughout winter, ready to gorge on grass roots in spring. Grass growth slows and yellow patches appear. Grass is easily pulled up, with little or no root growth.
In August gardeners may see clouds of daddy-long-legs emerging from lawns in the early morning and this, as well as the listed damage, are sure signs of leatherjacket infestation.
>>>>>>>>>>
Leatherjacket larvae are greyish-black or brown in colour, are legless and without a distinct head. They are usually soft and plump, but have a tough skin.
Crane fly adults are large flies with slim bodies, long ungainly legs and have narrow wings. They emerge in late August and early September, shortly afterwards eggs are laid in the soil. A single female may lay as many as 300 small oval black eggs.
The larvae hatch in about a fortnight, at this stage they are very vulnerable. Large numbers of larvae perish unless the weather is cool and damp during this hatchingperiod. The larvae grow slowly over winter, but will be about 40 mm long after the main spring feeding period. During summer the larvae change into pupae in the soil before emerging as adults.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Wet autumns and mild winters will favour leatherjackets which is why we are facing an epidemic this year. A survey by Dow AgroSiences suggests that leatherjacket populations are higher than in 2001 which was a particularly bad year. Their test sites showed an average of 250 grubs per m2 with 80% of the sample sites showing infestations. The biggest recording prior to this year was 30 grubs per m2! (this is from 2005 - but by all accounts 2006 is just as bad or worse).

http://fixedreference.org/2006-Wikipedia...ne_fly.htm
for even more PLUS pictures!!!

No! I not be on the Grog, nor a scallywag, you sons of biscuit eaters!!

http://www.talklikeapirate.com/

and http://www.yarr.org.uk/

Fortunately they will still have to print stamps for those that don't have computers.

Our Post Office que is usually very long and that will make things easier if you have a letter or two to post. Will have to get a special scale then......

:mailbox: :mail: :mailbox:

Howzit Boet, just tried to send you a PM, but your inbox is chock n block, please make a bit of space or PM me an alternative addy... TA

One step closer to Friday and the weekend :cheer:

Put my books in alphabetical order yesterday morning, and got my vinyls semi sorted out, so hopefully I'll be able to complete those later today :jive: It feels so weird to be home alone


Arrived at work this afternoon to discover that a colleague of mine has been fired, apparently he somehow managed (or thought he did) to crook the time keeping books so that he got two days off in lieu time worked without working the time, or so the rumours have it, we've heard nothing official yet :mad: This comes at a really bad time as two others of our team of 10 have resigned. Now if I have done my maths correctly it means that no one can take leave nor call in sick as we have 7 shifts a week that have to be covered...

1 co-ordinator / paper work shift
1 daily maintenance shift
1 late day shift (works until the evening shift arrives and take over)
2 evening shifts
1 night shift
1 weekend shift

Please tell me that I can't add to save my life :worthy:

I wonder if this is the right time to ask to double my salary and imply that I intend to leave if I don't get it :crylol:

I hope you all have a great Tuesday

http://www.freestuffhotdeals.com/hacker/1.html

I get as far as buchanan, can anyone help me get past this ?

:worthy: :worthy: :worthy:

I got this link for an Image resizer for Win XP from a magazine my dad has and find it very useful.

After installing it, you can right click on the file name in explorer and there is an option to resize it in various sizes in the drop down menu.

It looks like there may be some other handy things on the page too.

Our place is full of mushrooms.... some have really beautiful colours and pretty shapes.

One that really got our attention was a huge white one that kept on growing. One of my friends decided he wants to take it home to eat. I took a picture of him and the mushroom and told him I hope it is not the last picture taken of him,

Here it is....

What do Australians call the apelike creature resembling Big Foot that's been spotted in New South Wales and Queensland?