Aweh dearly beloved fellow ruminants & groupies
190/347 days of load shedding in 2022 – currently stage 4 (6 hours a day)
It is perhaps a reflection of a disorganised mind that today I will talk about four seemingly unconnected topics. Oliver, my eldest son, is 22 years old and he has spent every Christmas of his life barring his second at our house in Southbroom on the Kwazulu Natal south coast. Nerine and I have spent most of our Christmases since we met in 1985 here. Both Oliver and Connor look forward to Southbroom in December. It is the fabric of our Christmas reality. Here our extended family gathers for Christmas and a beach holiday and I am enormously grateful for that. Some people value constant change but to me, there is an enduring sense of place, tradition and family associated with Christmas in Southbroom.
Last week I posted that I was too lazy and grumpy to blog, and someone asked me why I was grumpy. Of course, I have many reasons to be gloomy but the CEO of the South African state-owned electricity provider Eskom, Andre de Ruyter, understandably deciding to throw in the towel sparked a renewed bout of depression and grumpiness. It is said that in polite company one is not supposed to discuss politics or religion. Perhaps politeness is not one of my strongest character traits but Nerine, my wife, has taught me the value of politeness over our long marriage. So, I try. But this week I will only be semi-polite and only discuss politics and leave religion out of it.
Politics attracts some of the worst narcissistic people on the planet who crave power, money, and influence. They often have no scruples, lack values and are very skilled in the art of misinformation and telling the gullible what they want to hear. This is not a South African phenomenon but the recent election of the top seven in the ruling African National Congress (ANC) is disturbing. Gwede Mantashe was the minister of mining and energy and is now the chairperson of the ruling ANC. He called Andre de Ruyter a traitor and accused him of deliberately sabotaging Eskom. He also accused him of being a policeman because he feels he has facilitated criminal prosecutions of several former Eskom executives for corruption. The Zondo commission of enquiry also recommended the prosecution of many of these corrupt executives. Did our president have anything to say about this? Not a word. Mantashe has created a fake narrative for the gullible that the ongoing electricity crisis at Eskom can quickly be solved with a new and better CEO. In the last 14 years, Eskom has had 14 CEO’s. Now somebody more compliant will most likely be appointed and the crisis will continue and very likely get worse and then the new CEO can also be disposed of when it is convenient. There is no quick fix for the over-indebted Eskom and its ageing and poorly maintained fleet of power stations. This problem has evolved over decades of maladministration, corruption and government incompetence.
Here on the South Coast the decade long water crisis also rumbles along and we have now not had water for five days and our 5000-litre tank is nearly empty. An overloaded private contractor has just arrived and added 2000 litres to our tank. Private contractors supplying water for a fee is a burgeoning industry. There is no shortage of water in KZN. The bankrupt ANC UGU municipality is in charge and has been accused of maladministration, corruption, and incompetence and now a class action lawsuit is slowly working its way through the courts. Will this help? This is all enough to make a saint grumpy. Is Christmas in Southbroom sustainable?
There are those who say that now that our president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has been re-elected for a second term with a bigger majority that he will continue with his battle against corruption and turn the country around. Let us hope they are right. South Africans are a resilient people with vibrant local communities who find a way to make things work. What about the poor? If you are poor and gullible then things do not look good. If you now stop believing the lies told by politicians, then there is hope. It remains to be seen how many people will vote for the ANC in 2024. In a democracy you get the government you deserve.
All of this has led me to ruminate on how sustainable South Africa is and indeed humanity’s current way of life on this planet. I came across the featured infographic which is a very sobering reflection of how we have come to dominate the planet. 96% of all mammals by mass are humans, our livestock, and pets. Let that sink in. All wild mammals constitute 4% of the planet’s mammals. How different this was a thousand years ago. Many of us have a sense of entitlement and see the planet and indeed the universe being for our benefit. Is it?
Although the topic of sustainability is very fashionable it is still premised on continued exponential real (above inflation) economic growth and associated consumption growth. We are all dependent on this economic model and it is what sustains 8 billion people. We just need to do this in a sustainable way. With new technologies we can grow meat and dairy products in stainless vats in factories using genetic engineering. Perhaps we can then get rid of our livestock. Is this good for the livestock? Is it in their interests? It does not really matter because livestock exist for our benefit and if we do not need them, we do not need to be burdened with the ethical issues regarding slaughtering animals to eat them. We can do all of this in a sustainable manner and increase the percentage of human biomass on the planet. What will the mammal distribution on earth be in a couple of centuries from now? What should it be? Is our objective to have as many people as possible on the planet all enjoying an affluent high consumption lifestyle. The first United Nations sustainable development goal (SDG) is to eradicate poverty. That is not going so well in South Africa at the moment, but a new dawn awaits. One day we will all be rich and there will be a lot of us.
I wish you and your family a merry Christmas and a poverty free 2023.
Thank you for all the ideas and comments. I really appreciate them and please keep them coming.
Regards
Bruce
Ruminant Pink Friday 