Aweh, My Dearly Beloved Fellow Ruminants & Groupies
So, I asked the all-knowing and infinitely wise ChatGPT to briefly characterise my blog. With a bit of editing, this is what it said:
“Ruminant Pink Friday is a reflective blog that blends personal musings with sharp observations on truth, justice, identity, and the oddities of corporate, academic, and everyday life. It’s thoughtful without being precious, playful without showing off, more like pissing into the wind or screaming into the abyss than delivering tidy conclusions. The writing invites readers to think, laugh, and occasionally squirm, all while sharing in the messiness of trying to make sense of it all.”
Okay, I’m more or less happy with that, wise and all-knowing one.
But then I asked it whether my blog is polemical, and it said it isn’t overtly polemical. It leans more toward thoughtful introspection and playful critique rather than pushing a hard-edged argument or ideological stance. It’s more a witty rumination than a rallying cry.
A polemic is less an essay than a fight, meant to provoke, unsettle, and sometimes inflame. It veers into politics because that’s where the sharp edges are. And today, I’m stepping out of my box to take a swing. So, for those of you who prefer playful critique, skip this week’s blog.
South Africa’s Bloodbath of Work
South Africa bled 291,000 jobs in the last quarter, with the formal sector alone losing 245,000, a brutal confirmation that the employment crisis is worsening, not easing. The official unemployment rate now stands at 33.2%, the expanded rate at 43.1%, and nearly half of young people remain locked out of the workforce.
Mining and steel giants like Glencore and ArcelorMittal are slashing thousands more, pushing livelihoods over the edge. And yet, what will we hear from the political class? Endless pedantry about “narrow” versus “expanded” definitions, as though juggling statistics could disguise the collapse. Call it what you will, South Africa is haemorrhaging jobs, and the excuses are running thin.
A Criminal Enterprise in Power
The ANC has hollowed out the state through pervasive looting so brazen it hardly pretends to hide. From Eskom’s blackouts to collapsing water systems, from spiralling electricity prices to crumbling municipalities, every artery of public life bleeds from corruption.
This is not misfortune, it’s the predictable outcome of a governing party that has become a criminal enterprise. The ANC is corrupt to its core, ideologically bankrupt, and incapable of reform. Its leaders cling to power while ordinary South Africans pay the price in darkness, dry taps, and unemployment.
The PIC: A Piggy Bank for Cronies
The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) is the behemoth asset manager of South Africa, controlling over R2.5 trillion, mostly the hard-earned pensions of state employees like teachers, police officers, nurses, and civil servants through the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF).
In theory, it is meant to safeguard and grow these savings responsibly. In practice, it has become a political piggy bank. Billions have been funneled into unlisted projects shielded from scrutiny, from the debacle of Daybreak Farms, where state-backed poultry literally starved, to the bailout of Iqbal Survé’s Independent Media, a politically connected sinkhole of loss.
Now, the PIC is trumpeting its role in flashy “future” projects, pledging hundreds of millions to green-hydrogen ventures like the Coega ammonia plant, while the municipal electricity infrastructure collapses and municipalities can’t deliver water. For state employees, this means their retirement security is directly tethered to political experiments, failing cronies, and ideological gambles. The PIC should be a trustee of public futures; instead, it behaves like the ANC’s investment wing, feeding corruption under the guise of growth.
Democracy Rewarding Kleptocracy
And yet, years of electoral largesse have rewarded this betrayal, the once-dominant party still commanded over 40% of the vote in 2024, though down sharply from 62% in 1994, forcing coalition politics for the first time in three decades Millions of South Africans looked past graft, flooded the ballot boxes, and elected kleptocrats, and now their livelihoods and democracy itself are staggering under the weight of that choice.
The Vampire Squid
South Africans are beginning to see the ANC for what it is: “a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of the nation, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.”
The 2024 election finally cracked its aura of inevitability, stripping it of a majority and showing that voters are no longer willing to have their futures bled dry. Yet the ANC hasn’t got the memo; it still struts and squabbles as if the country owes it eternal loyalty, oblivious to the wreckage in its wake.
The damage is immense: decades of looting have gutted state institutions, left infrastructure in ruins, and siphoned public wealth into private hands. The way forward will be long and painful, demanding years of rebuilding trust, accountability, and capacity. The hope is real, but so is the devastation left by the squid.
Wrapping Up (and a Freebie for My American Friends)
So, my dearly beloved ruminants, what have we learned this week? That South Africa is bleeding jobs, the ANC is a vampire squid, and government service pension money is funding poultry cannibalism and hydrogen pipe dreams. Business as usual, really.
And to my American readers, consider this a public service announcement. Don’t kid yourselves that corruption is a “developing world” thing. We South Africans have PhDs in watching how rot seeps from the top down, hollowing out institutions until all that’s left is slogans, broken pipes, and politicians arguing over definitions while the lights go out. You may still be in the denial phase, but take it from us, corruption doesn’t just nibble at the edges; it eats the whole house.
So, take notes. If you’re looking for a masterclass in how kleptocracy hollows out a democracy, South Africans can provide expert consulting, just sort us out with a visa first. You’re welcome.
Next week, relax bru, no polemics, just the usual Ruminant bullshit… unless, of course, Pretoria acts up again.
Thanks for all the comments and input.
Bruce
Ruminant Pink Friday 