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Top 10 comments: Eskom 'treason', unions deadlock

Cape Town - Eskom had another tough week in the comments section with much load shedding and unexpected threats at its power construction sites.

The bulging state wage bill also drew criticism along with the unions withdrawing from a government wage deal this week.

Below is the weekly dose of top ten Fin24 user comments - selected for their wit, value-add to the topic at hand and contribution to healthy debate in a country so much in need of constructive dialogue.

Top ten user comments on:

Bomb threats and gunshots at Eskom plants 'treasonous':

1. Nkululeko Thetsha Dube - Yeah, that is treason Mr Molefe, but what do we call it when Eskom commits treason against the people by denying them electricity in winter, failing to plan for new power plants and giving unreasonable contracts/money to coal miners? What do you call it when electricity prices go up by 130% over 5 years, but the level of service deteriorates - READ STORY

2. Stephen Colley - In response to Richardson Mzaidume's “Tenderpreneur criminals will make it a point that both Kusile and Medupi will never function until they are rich enough. I guess we'll have to hold on those candles, paraffin stoves, gas stoves and heaters”

NO Richard, don't be complacent, we are the people, as with the people when they rose up against apartheid, so should we rise against this tyrannous government. Don't think that you are too small to start the ball rolling. Remember, every revolution was started with one person, any war started with one person, the greatest inventions ever, were first thought about by one person. Time to rise and be counted, time to make a difference - READ STORY

State wage bill to cost SA R61bn:

3. Revelgen - We have one of the largest Public Services relative to our country size of any nation in the world, yet we still get rotten service on the whole. Zuma has tried to create 'employment' by simply employing more and more public servants. But this isn't true employment, simply a recycling of our taxes. The wage bill for all these people consumes the majority of the taxes we pay.

Yet the sobering truth is that just 3.5 million people (out of 54 million) pay 95% of all SA's taxes. Note - ALL taxes. The ANC is trying to apply Communistic/Socialistic principles in a country where a limited tax base makes this impossible to implement. How long before they realise that this cannot last? - READ STORY

Poultry deal between SA, US finalised:

4. Graham Radburnd - 65 000 tons is a drop in the ocean. The SA poultry guys just need to drop their selling prices by a few rand and the consumers will increase the amount of chicken they buy versus the always expensive red meat. I have been into supermarkets where whole fresh chickens were on "sale", and they were out of stock. Over the past 16 years I have worked in Angola, DR Congo, Guinea and currently Sierra Leone. Not once have I seen a chicken from SA in their supermarkets. They are mostly from Brazil, or France. Why can't the SA Poultry Industry sell into Africa. The SA wine and spirit guys are doing it, as is Ceres fresh fruit juices - READ STORY

Julius Malema: Business ready for a radical change to SA economy:

5. Isaac Newtonian -Let me help you Malema, since your political party is struggling so much. It's about the GLOBAL MARKET. You have to choose a market or a product that the global market wants and then you have to produce that product for the global market. That's where the 99% of the economic cake lies. It doesn't lie with the 1% of the world market - the whites of South Africa own 1% of the world economy.

Wealth lies in satisfying the needs and desires, the market demand of the 99% of the world - which is outside South Africa. EXPORTS! The only reason gold and platinum is doing so well - it's an export product. So the answer is not government control - it doesn't matter what method of control is used - private or government control - as long as the best products reach the world market.

Now the Chinese government has paid the lowest wages for their people etc. but they understand what it is about - supplying in the needs of the 99% of the world's people. Not spending 99% of your time trying to take away the wealth of the 1% of the world's population that own 1% of the world's wealth. You better come up with far better economic plans directed at producing products for the 99% of the world's population that own 99% of the world's wealth.

If you want to get wealthy, you need to export to the 99% of the world's people. That's how all industrialized countries did it. They exported to the world. No nation on its own can rise up and become wealthy without selling to other nations - READ STORY

Travel bigwig slams new SA visa rules:

6. Delfin Williams106 - The goal is noble, but the implementation is poor. The government could have incorporated the parents' details in the South African child passport for our citizens. That way there is only one piece of documentation to keep, and to replace if it is lost overseas (how long will it take to replace a passport vs an unabridged birth certificate via an SA embassy abroad?) The other issue is the inverse: if a foreign child arrives visa-free in South Africa from overseas, how certain is Home Affairs that every country's embassies can re-issue birth certificates as easily as it can re-issue passports? – READ STORY

7. Sylvia Thomas - A friend's daughter and colleague who worked in UK for 6 years came home on holiday. Not aware of some additional visa whatever line or requirement, they return. At Heathrow they were bundled into a room, stripped naked and searched. Despite them giving contact details of workplace, they were put on a late night flight back to SA and  world didn't make a sound. They vowed never to go to UK again. I asked if this is SA trying to combat human trafficking. I now ask again. A child disappears from Cape Flats ever so often within the wink of an eye even on way to school. Bigwigs please go visit townships to see what life is like there - READ MORE

Winter has arrived for SA economy expert:

8. Mike 881 - Sad reality is that my (retail) business gross turnover was higher in 2006 than it is today, not even taking inflation into account. The only way we have stayed in business is by slashing "admin" costs - closed two branches, got rid of 11 employees and reduced advertising spend by 80%. During the same period eight of our suppliers have gone under due to the economy, with a total, well over 400 employees losing their jobs as a result - READ MORE

Unions withdraw from govt wage deal:

9. Gerrit Coetzee - The major difference between private and public sector is, you get bad employees in the private sector, but they are worked out because they do not generate any income, as for public sector the same does not apply, my tax money is being used to pay the majority non-productive public servants, and then they demand more...a private company can close down or be liquidated if it fails, public sector the money just keep rolling in because there is no end to it as long as we the public pay for it through our taxes...so basically we have to work hard, to give public servants a salary each month whether they are productive or not - READ MORE

10. Jaco van Eck - I am one of the so called "lazy fat stupid" public servants. I have been one for the past 24 years. Just to set the record straight. Please note that I am not exempted from paying taxes. Each and every month I am taxed on my salary the same as you in the private sector. So I am paying myself each month. So stop arguing that you are paying my salary. I am given 30 days leave a year. I am only able to take 10 days of that. Why? Because the rest of the year I am to busy working my ass off.

My family are the one who has to live with it. During December when most of you take leave I am not allowed to because I must work to look after your well being. Oh yes, I am a police man, a detective. Not once do I moan or make ugly remarks. Yes I have chosen to do this job. I did not join the police to get rich. But please recognize my needs - READ MORE

Disclaimer: All letters and comments published in MyFin24 have been independently written by members of the Fin24 community. The views are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent those of Fin24.

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