education down the tubes

Our main front page story yesterday reflects the condition of tertiary education in this country. Sixty thousand applicants turned away from universities in this province alone. A lady crushed to death in chaotic registration scenes in Johannesburg. Lack of facilities, no finance, no job opportunities and a sense of entitlement all contribute to this chaos. One would expect Minister Nzimande to further along than the planning stages to sort out this mess.

forward pass

The long awaited announcement of the Bok coach was made at the same time as the minister of sport is mouthing off about transformation again instead of supporting the development of school level sport.

dinosaur

When one mentions dinosaurs and Africa in the same sentence, doesn't ones thoughts automatically go to that ancient, bloodthirsty tyrant who has been around forever, Tyrannosaurus Bob.

Goodluck!

Nigeria is currently in turmoil and right in the vmiddle is their recently elected president with the somewhat prophetic Christian name. Not only is he in the throes of unpheaval for trying to curb the economy by pushing up the petrol price, but he's also caught in the middle of a religious battle between the Muslim North and the Christian South. Another African country tearing itself apart!

kiddie in the middle

The National Youth Development Agency, a govt. body that spends huge amounts of money doing nothing for the youth, and SADTU, the teacher's union, who look after themselves and do nothing for the youth, are having a spat. Reading between the lines, its all part of the pre-election jockeying for position within the ANC and posturing during the ANC disciplinary hearing for the ANCYL leaders. Thank goodness I am not at school now and at least know how to read - even if it between the lines.

full circle in reverse

Zuma's centenary speech was a case of going forwards looking backwards. No meaningful talk of the future. No vision. The revolution is getting old now.

all pull together

The ANC continues to unravel as they all pull in different directions ahead of the elective conference. Great sport to watch!

now you've blown it

National football coach Pitso Mosimane obviously believes that attack is the best form of defence. He recently blasted his critics and trumpeted his performance in the Sunday papers. The AFCON cup debacle was one low note he managed to leave out.

doom and gloom

Another storm brewing on the horizon. In their attempts to have complete control, the government is trying to pass a bill that makes it an offence to pass on information about severe weather conditions without the sanction of the appropriate authority. Watch out, we're headed for turbulent times as journalists if the secrecy bill is passed!

sport support

Believe it or not! South Africa has one athlete competing in the youth Winter Olympics in Austria. Believe it or not, SASCOC, the South African olympics body deemed it okay to send Five, count 'em, five officials including chairman Mr. "Tubby" Reddy, in a supporting role. The officials all flew business class, the athlete and his coach flew economy. Tubby's rationale, just following policy. Fat cats rule.

Held at ransom

Trouble in Nigeria, trouble in Iran and who suffers? Us poor consumers.I just wish they would sort out their troubles and relieve ours at the same time. Goodluck!

soap opera

Oh what fickle youth. Right! Political opportunism of the first degree. I think Thabo Mbeki is a wise old dog and will put them in their place.How can they hate him enough to make him step down as the country's president then think that he'll fall for their praises a couple of years down the road?

hypocrisy of the highest order

No wonder they call people who vote for the ANC "sheeple". The leaders blatantly said - we salute you with a glass of champagne, you salute us with a clenched fist. One wonders at the sheer hypocrisy of the ANC leadership and the gullibility of the sheeple. I'd personally salute them with a middle finger.

centenary

Well, the ANC is 100 years old. Solid foundations but rapidly starting to fall apart at the top!

hypocritter politicus

Phillip Dexter was an ANC MP. At Polokwane he mouthed off about tribalism, dishonesty etc.etc. in the ruling party and resigned. He went on to be a founding member and spokesperson of that would be opposition party, Congress of the People(COPE). Well, we all know how that turned out with political in-fighting and accusations of corruption and dodgy dealings. Well, Mr. Dexter now accuses his current party bosses of .... guess what, dishonesty, of splitting the party etc. etc. and has re-joined the ANC. It seems like the prodigal son has returned. Incredible or unbelievable are two words I can think of to describe Mr. Dexter and the pronouncements of politicians generally.

No turning back

With the anticipation of a mediocre pass rate for the matric exams, my editor asked me to do a conciliatory cartoon that would not upset anyone, especially those who had failed. This is what I came up with but to tell you the truth, I think that those who failed should be big enough to face the music. In a later report, I read that Cosas, the congress of SA Students, wanted to hold a protest against the publication of results in the newspapers on the grounds that those who had failed their exams would be publicly embarrassed. Sheeeeesh. You fail because you are lazy or stupid or a combination thereof.

hunt your conscience

This is one of those issues that make my life difficult as a cartoonist. Instead of just thinking of something funny to say about an issue, but having to go inside and decide what I feel about the ethics of an issue. With this story, against a dreadful background of rhino poaching, the culling of a white rhino on a private reserve has been auctioned to a private hunter for the sum of around R 950 000. My gut reaction was a complete no-no, but then I read further and had a little think about sustainable hunting and the money that goes back into conservation projects. I don't like the killing of animals, but being a meat eater, I'm being totally hypocritical. I do think they should be much tougher on poachers who get away with a minimal fine for killing an animal worth R 300 000. Hunting I personally wouldn't do. I think we should arm the rhinos and let them loose!

new year hangovers

2011 is done and dusted and now we look forward to matric results, a loooong January until payday and of course, more political idiocy while the ANC parties on at Mangaung. Happy happy.