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Zille passes the buck in R4bn bungle
The ANC believes it has found a stick with which to beat its DA nemesis Helen Zille – a 300% escalation in the price of Cape Town’s new public transport system.
But Zille, former mayor of the city and now premier of the Western Cape, says the R4.2-billion sticker shock is the fault of a senior manager who deliberately hid the truth from politicians.
The cost of the city’s Integrated Rapid Transit system, which includes upgrades required by Fifa for the World Cup next year, was originally given, in August last year, as R1.3-billion.
But 12 months later the city council was told that the system, which includes construction of flyovers, dedicated bus lanes and cycle paths, was going to cost more than triple that. (Times Live)
Bit of “playing the blame game” going on down in Slaapstad! And in a related vein….
DA’s “Government Waste Monitor” stands and R326-million
Government’s "wasteful expenditure" currently stands at R326m, due largely to the purchase of more luxury vehicles for ministers and their deputies and the hosting of lavish parties, the Democratic Alliance said on Sunday. Of that, almost R8m was spent in the past two weeks.
"The R7.7m increase is the result of money having been spent purely on unnecessary luxuries. The ANC government’s insistence on throwing parties at the drop of a hat is costing the South African taxpayer millions of rands," said spokesperson Lindiwe Mazibuko.
Mazibuko said the DA’s "Wasteful Expenditure Monitor" indicates that numerous departments have splashed out a total of R2.5m on unnecessary budget vote parties. (News24)
Wonder who DJ’s at a “Budget Vote Party”, and what the dress code is??
“Jissie, it was shocking”! Joost comes clean
Former Springbok Joost van der Westhuizen, who confessed at the weekend that it was him filmed having sex and doing drugs in a controversial video, maintains that was the only time he has cheated on his wife, Amor Vittone.
“No, jirre. No, no, that was the only time. Jissie, it was shocking.”
Asked why he had condoms with him (if it was the first time), he said: “Probably because a guy doesn’t know how far it will go. I’m not going to go into detail. I get embarrassed.”
Van der Westhuizen was speaking at Johannesburg’s Rosebank Hotel on Sunday, where he met the media to promote his biography, Joost: The Man in the Mirror, in which he admits it was him in the video filmed in 2006, getting oral sex from a stripper and snorting a drug – possibly Cat – with her. (News24)
Yep Joost, it was pretty shocking for us too when we realised that you could splash out on drugs, pro’s , a fancy hotel room and video equipment, but couldn’t have been bothered about the holes in your underwear. Cheap skate! Oh, and Amor, if you want to put together a little “revenge movie” of your own, gives us a shout! 
[Sorry about that terrible pun in the headline – I couldn’t resist!]
15,000 run through Soweto, but not in protest
The Soweto Marathon yesterday attracted its biggest turnout ever – 15000 runners. Johannesburg mayor Amos Masondo hailed the event as a "major success". He said he was excited by the growth of the marathon and that one day it would do better than the Comrades’ Marathon.
"Aside from the obvious competition between athletes, this event is also a way for us to promote healthier lifestyles, but more especially tourism around our biggest township," he said. "The design of our route brings visitors around Walter Sisulu Square, the iconic Catholic Church and Vilakazi Street, where our two Nobel Prize laureates [former president Nelson Mandela and retired archbishop Desmond Tutu] both lived."
The people of Soweto came out in huge numbers to cheer runners passing their homes. (Times Live)
Great to see the locals giving this event their support. I was on the streets too, but no where near the marathon route…
Maybe he didn’t like the way you were flying?
A man was blasted into the sky from a plane after he accidentally pulled on the emergency eject handle during a joy flight in South Africa. The man was sitting in a South African airforce Pilatus PC-7 Mk II jet during a flight over Langebaanweg Air Force Base when he was believed to have accidentally pulled on the handle, South Africa’s Times newspaper said.
Two rockets at the back of his seat activated, and the man was thrust through the plane’s perspex canopy and high into the air, it said. He then floated back down to earth on a parachute, which had opened automatically. The incident most likely occurred during an acrobatics display, The Times said.
A retired air force pilot told the paper the ejection would have stunned the passenger. He said the man was lucky to have survived uninjured.
"You get one almighty kick under the backside and then you’re gone," he said. "We train for this and if you don’t get it right, and are not in the correct ejection posture, you can sustain severe spinal cord injuries or even worse," he said.
It was likely the passenger was fully briefed about the location of the emergency handle, and told not to pull it unless ordered to by the pilot, he said. (Sydney Morning Herald)
Maybe it would have been easier if the guy just asked the pilot to land? If only to avoid giving the Aussies something stupid to write about us. Fool – you embarrassed the nation! Now call a press conference and lie about it, blaming the pilot, the plane and the Civil Aviation Authority.
And in other news…
- Historic post office burns. Again: Another fire has ripped through the old post office in Rissik Street in the Johannesburg city centre. The blaze broke out inside the historic building on Sunday night firefighters took up to five hours to extinguish the blaze. (EWN)
- Agliotti back in the witness box: Glenn Agliotti, the first state witness in the corruption trial of former police head Jackie Selebi, returns to the stand on Monday. Last week the convicted drug trafficker had time off while the High Court in Johannesburg was occupied with a recusal application by the defence against Judge Meyer Joffe. (IOL)
- UN to set a global “Nelson Mandela Day”: The United Nations General Assembly studies a resolution draft titled “International Nelson Mandela Day” for its approval at the plenary of that forum. The initiative was presented by the South African delegation to the UN and is included in point 49 of the Assembly agenda, dealing with Culture of Peace. According to the South African ambassador before the world organization, Baso Sanqcu, the proposed text is a recognition to the former president of that southernmost African nation and his contribution to the fight for democracy and the promotion of a culture of peace throughout the world. (Periodica26, Cuba)
Make it a great week now! JoBra is gone….
5 Comments
Liking the new "editorial" comments Jo!
The Joost story is (imho) a little poorly planned, and has taken a lot of attention away from the Bulls' Currie Cup win on the weekend. Mind you, I don't think they deserved the win myself, so maybe it's better for them this way.
Love the story about the passenger ejecting himself from the fighter plane. One of those "Don't Press This Button" temptations that we all can't resist, but that he clearly should have in this case. Must have got the fright of his life when he rocketed out of the canopy!
Are you a professional journalist? You write very well.
Thanks Mackeran, but no, I am not a prro journo. More like a professional Copy & Paster!
Heard it was some rich guy on a birthday present flight in Cape Town in one of those jets at Thunder City who ejected himself. Probably thought he was too clever for this lowly pilot type.
P.S. Been very quiet around here recently – what's happening guys?
Yeah Rainman, things have been a little hectic for us the last couple of weeks (and for the other BlaBla writers too it seems).
Don't you just hate it when your real life encroaches on your digital one?!Hopefully things will settle down in the next few days, and we can get back to posting more regularly.
Thanks for sticking around in the interim