I was visiting my parents last night, and we were watching our local news broadcast. The main headline was about how our Doctors are literally downing stethoscopes and striking for better pay and better conditions within State Hospitals. The Governments reaction to their strike was an initial appeasement, by offering increases, which they told the Press amounted to between 2% and 60% increases, with a great amount of hype and emphasis on the 60% amount. In truth, this has been nothing but a veiled attempt to appear caring on the plight of our Doctors, and really only amounted to an over all average of 12% across the board, with many highly qualified Doctors only receiving 2%. So, our Doctors remain on an unprotected strike, many of them are now being fired and disciplined by the Department of Health. Hospitals are turning into ghost buildings, and patients are not receiving treatment. One cannot help but understand that many of these professionals feel forced to ‘bail out’ of the country, when they have studied for over 7 years, and have done mandatory community service for a further 2 years, to end up getting paid less that a municipal worker on a roads and maintenance crew, saddled with huge student loans they are bound to repay the Government for.
Another headline was the huge Parliamentary debate on our dismal, and failing South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), the state owned and run TV and radio network, and the very real plan by Government to financially bail them out again to the tune of 2 Billion Rand.
Yet another National treasure is South African Airways (SAA), our State owned National Air Carrier, again, forever in debt, running at a loss, and constantly requesting tax payers money to ‘bail them out’. SAA have requested a 5.7 Billion Rand bail out.
Call me simplistic, but I cannot understand, as a South African tax payer, and citizen, how we can as a country, throw 7.7 Billion Rand (1 BP = 13 Rand) into black holes, that are completely unnecessary in a 3rd world emerging economy. Surely our Hospitals and our Health Professionals, who have been literally hanging in on a shoe string budget for years, come first. I have to wonder what kind of a positive impact such a huge cash injection to the tune of nearly 8 Billion Rand would have.
I say put the SABC and SAA up for auction, get rid of them. They are weighing us down. Let industry buy them up, and turn them into lean profit making machines, and let’s look after our sick, our elderly, and our wounded.
* an off the subject rant
Another headline was the huge Parliamentary debate on our dismal, and failing South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), the state owned and run TV and radio network, and the very real plan by Government to financially bail them out again to the tune of 2 Billion Rand.
Yet another National treasure is South African Airways (SAA), our State owned National Air Carrier, again, forever in debt, running at a loss, and constantly requesting tax payers money to ‘bail them out’. SAA have requested a 5.7 Billion Rand bail out.
Call me simplistic, but I cannot understand, as a South African tax payer, and citizen, how we can as a country, throw 7.7 Billion Rand (1 BP = 13 Rand) into black holes, that are completely unnecessary in a 3rd world emerging economy. Surely our Hospitals and our Health Professionals, who have been literally hanging in on a shoe string budget for years, come first. I have to wonder what kind of a positive impact such a huge cash injection to the tune of nearly 8 Billion Rand would have.
I say put the SABC and SAA up for auction, get rid of them. They are weighing us down. Let industry buy them up, and turn them into lean profit making machines, and let’s look after our sick, our elderly, and our wounded.
* an off the subject rant
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