There is plenty of good economic news going around, the Chiel wrote way back in May, 2002, “so maybe the sun is starting to shine on South Africa again. We need it”. (We could do with a bit of solid economic news again even now in 2016, though!)
Gold back then had pushed through $312 to the ounce (it was $1320 when I wrote this column in July); the rand at that time was on a roll and retreating below R10 to the dollar (four months earlier it had been R13.50); oil prices were slumping thanks to Iraq pumping again; and finally, business leaders had pushed the confidence index up two points into positive territory.
“There’s a warm feeling about a whole lot of things at the moment. Let’s hope it stays that way,” I wrote then, and continued: “I know Kevin Wakeford, chairman of Sacob, has come in for a lot of flak for firing off apparently dubious allegations about the slide of our currency, which prompted President Thabo Mbeki to appoint a commission of inquiry into its weakness. But almost from the day he did that, the rand strengthened.”
Call it coincidence, but it stopped the downward spiral in its tracks and turned it right around. Methinks (Mrs Chiel said I shouldn’t write that – “it’s old-fashioned”) it jolted a lot of traders into closing their books and gave our battered currency a chance to find the right level.
“Good on yer, Kevin. We’re right behind you. As for Hogarth in the Sunday Times nominating you his Mampara of the Week some weeks back, I hope he has to eat his words – as he had to in Mark Shuttleworth’s case – when your contribution towards rescuing the economy is recognised in due course.”
That was the serious Chiel story of the day, the second was something to smile about which had the headline over it: Biting the hand, and was all about former city councillor Eric Whitaker who thought he was doing someone a favour when he stopped to pick up a stray dog in Bowls Road the day before.
The German shepherd was lost, confused and running about dangerously, in and out of traffic. So Eric pulled up, opened his door and called the dog which came bounding over and leapt inside as if it owned the car. However, that’s when trouble started.
Eric tried to climb back in, but the dog snarled viciously, not letting him anywhere near his own car. No matter how he tried to make friends, or cajole it out again, it bared teeth and growled. This went on for about an hour and plenty of advice was offered by amused bystanders who thought the whole thing hilarious.
Finally someone managed to get close enough to the dog to read a disc attached to the collar around its neck which displayed an SPCA telephone and reference number. So Eric phoned the SPCA, gave the information and was told that the dog belonged to Lee Sun of Currie Street, Quigney.
Mr Lee Sun was called, arrived to fetch his dog, and assured Eric that its snarl was much worse than its bite. So Eric ventured closer to give the animal that had kept him at bay for over an hour, a friendly pat on the head, and was promptly bitten on his hand!
Mr Lee Sun told the Chiel later that Chilli, as the 4½-year-old German shepherd is named (in Chinese, chilli means strength), had got out when someone left the front gate open. “He’s very good with children and never goes out in the car,” he said. “I think he must have been nervous about all the people.”
Finally some Zimbabwe humour, this one from 1992 would you believe – clearly, little has changed: Queueing has become a way of life in that country to the extent President Mugabe has a new nickname: The Emir of Queue-wait.
Another story was also doing the rounds about the Harare housewife, normally sympathetic to Mugabe, who stomped off in disgust after a six-hour wait outside her local supermarket. “I am going to complain personally to the president,” she declared. After half an hour she was back. “It’s no good; you should see the queue of people outside State House.” — robinrosst@gmail.com
Is sun starting to shine again?
Gold back then had pushed through $312 to the ounce (it was $1320 when I wrote this column in July); the rand at that time was on a roll and retreating below R10 to the dollar (four months earlier it had been R13.50); oil prices were slumping thanks to Iraq pumping again; and finally, business leaders had pushed the confidence index up two points into positive territory.
“There’s a warm feeling about a whole lot of things at the moment. Let’s hope it stays that way,” I wrote then, and continued: “I know Kevin Wakeford, chairman of Sacob, has come in for a lot of flak for firing off apparently dubious allegations about the slide of our currency, which prompted President Thabo Mbeki to appoint a commission of inquiry into its weakness. But almost from the day he did that, the rand strengthened.”
Call it coincidence, but it stopped the downward spiral in its tracks and turned it right around. Methinks (Mrs Chiel said I shouldn’t write that – “it’s old-fashioned”) it jolted a lot of traders into closing their books and gave our battered currency a chance to find the right level.
“Good on yer, Kevin. We’re right behind you. As for Hogarth in the Sunday Times nominating you his Mampara of the Week some weeks back, I hope he has to eat his words – as he had to in Mark Shuttleworth’s case – when your contribution towards rescuing the economy is recognised in due course.”
That was the serious Chiel story of the day, the second was something to smile about which had the headline over it: Biting the hand, and was all about former city councillor Eric Whitaker who thought he was doing someone a favour when he stopped to pick up a stray dog in Bowls Road the day before.
The German shepherd was lost, confused and running about dangerously, in and out of traffic. So Eric pulled up, opened his door and called the dog which came bounding over and leapt inside as if it owned the car. However, that’s when trouble started.
Eric tried to climb back in, but the dog snarled viciously, not letting him anywhere near his own car. No matter how he tried to make friends, or cajole it out again, it bared teeth and growled. This went on for about an hour and plenty of advice was offered by amused bystanders who thought the whole thing hilarious.
Finally someone managed to get close enough to the dog to read a disc attached to the collar around its neck which displayed an SPCA telephone and reference number. So Eric phoned the SPCA, gave the information and was told that the dog belonged to Lee Sun of Currie Street, Quigney.
Mr Lee Sun was called, arrived to fetch his dog, and assured Eric that its snarl was much worse than its bite. So Eric ventured closer to give the animal that had kept him at bay for over an hour, a friendly pat on the head, and was promptly bitten on his hand!
Mr Lee Sun told the Chiel later that Chilli, as the 4½-year-old German shepherd is named (in Chinese, chilli means strength), had got out when someone left the front gate open. “He’s very good with children and never goes out in the car,” he said. “I think he must have been nervous about all the people.”
Finally some Zimbabwe humour, this one from 1992 would you believe – clearly, little has changed: Queueing has become a way of life in that country to the extent President Mugabe has a new nickname: The Emir of Queue-wait.
Another story was also doing the rounds about the Harare housewife, normally sympathetic to Mugabe, who stomped off in disgust after a six-hour wait outside her local supermarket. “I am going to complain personally to the president,” she declared. After half an hour she was back. “It’s no good; you should see the queue of people outside State House.” — robinrosst@gmail.com
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