Massive increase in power price

(And that's when it works) ... as reported on 93.8FM

Electricity Mark up on Eskom bulk 117%, increases domestic 35%, Commercial 27%. Johannesburg City Power. 20110802. Listeners. "On the Spot" with Jim Powell - Mix FM 93.8

 ON THE SPOT TUESDAY 26^TH JULY 2011 - AMENDMENT TO RATES BILL

Jim Powell - Host (JP)

Jonathan Davies - Pam Golding Estates (JD)

Jaap Kelder – National Tax Payers Union (JK)

JD is manager of Hyde Park Branch. Pam Golding is fortunate being a big brand. Good reputation. Gained market share

JK Vote once every 5 yrs. Proposals swept under carpet if you not in majority.

JP How many councils under administrative

JK. 5 or 6 under administration. 95% should be under admin. Government has not got expertise.

Sannieshof running independently. Feb 2008 town dry. 7 boreholes. Mrs. Visser saw manager who said pipe from Katze Dam R 12 million. Repaired motors for R 12000 and water flowed. Ottosdaal DelaReysville and Sannieshof run on 20% of the budget.

JK Property act. Absolutely devastating for inflation, property. Sect 1 Raising of taxes not linked to any particular service. Money can be spent on whatever they want.

JP Ratepayers have to pay but do not know what it will be spent on.

JK Budget for municipalities is in place but not adhered to. Years ago no municipal budget was exceeded, now the norm.

JD As it stands lots of questions raised. People will hold back from purchase, there is a dip in market, wait and see. Sales and rentals will be affected. Landlords will hold back.

JP Deputy Minister invited but ignored invite. So here is funeral march in their honour and applause to those present

JD Important to understand this could create anarchy. Businesses such as B&B should pay rates as hotels. 2^nd homes / investment not will be affected unless act is amended.

JD Heading for’ mild mayhem ‘

JK People trying to provide for pension, putting that in jeopardy, young people not have properties to rent any more

JP Townships. Those who have shacks on their properties will be affected

JK RDP houses let out and owners live in squatter camps

JP in JHB no rates for properties under R 150,000 value.

JK Agreed

JD I hear what JK says. My feeling is initial panic, people get used to things and I think this bill needs tweaking. Short term investors will sell. Supply and demand will sort out the situation. Rentals will increase.

JP Toll roads extra taxes coming in. Strangling the goose that lays the golden egg. More & more taxes. Reducing taxes and would increase jobs. New equilibrium. If rates go up so will rentals. Lower value of properties. Negative effect

JD Disagree … Initially under pressure, fewer props on market for rental. Relocating people will always rent. Higher price will be paid.

JP Rental market

JD Rental market improving after recession. Downscaling pushes up rentals.

JP prop buying to live in as opposed to renting out.

JD With increase in rental people will want to buy. Rather pay off bond.

JK National Taxpayers Union has 335 towns on mailing list. Full payers are members.

JP members pay R 20 to local organization.

JK money in is solely for legal expenses. Run from homes so no expenses

JP saves money for people being abused by the councils

JK Phalaborwa wanted to run the people down and the ratepayer’s assoc sorted it out. The council lost all their cases. Now no political parties on council

JP all people should join so email Jaap on info@zanli.co.za

JD Councils using money for what they like. Council should be more open with what they spend their money on.

JP General arrogant attitude of councils. Should consider who they work for.

How is market affected?

JD recession, weathering storm. Nice turn around. Prop market will be destroyed by this bill. Market will soften. Sideways at moment. Similar volumes but prices corrected

JK increased anger amongst people. People will have to down scale. Young stay with parents longer.

Rental will not be affordable

JK 76% of debt level at present. Councils trying to increase income.

JP Sannieshof a good example

JK R 62 billion not collected by local government. Over and above what is written off? Townships don’t pay.

JK One way to fix. Residents to get involved. Water important, no streams, rivers or damns not polluted. Need resident’s councils. Withhold rates, keep money in trust acc. Decide with council what is to be done. Phalaborwa got rid of city manager. Now getting things done.

JP Frankenwald. When the community organisation challenged illegal operation of council, the council’s attitude was “you use your money and we use your money” in the legal battle

JK Phalaborwa turned around.

JP A quote from someone in the legal department of Johannesburg was a week’s work in a whole year.

Incompetent cadres’ deployment. People with skills a threat so they get rid of them. All inexperienced people so no one knows what to do.

JK Western system does not work in Africa. Majority votes.

JD Agree. Situation if something isn’t done system will destroy itself. Solidarity of people tricky.

JP Switzerland has system where voters are in charge of politicians

JK Meeting on Saturday on Cantons. In constitution there are allowances for people to make contribution. Oranjeville example. Forgotten in 1994, so not part of New South Africa.

Between Hopetown and Petrusville. Run by Afrikaners no labour from outside. Safe area.

Own currency Ora.

JD in closing. Yes we have journey, will be solvable. Property market. Efficiently run council will help.

JK Unless Government Ministry of COGTA take notice there will be repercussions.

Let's throw our weight behind this in getting our share of fixing roads

You get incompetence. Then you get incompetence. Then finally you get incompetence.

Then you get cadre deployment (sorry, AK, it does not work).

This woman who gave herself a R1 million bonus last year is the reason our roads are collapsing. Let's all hold her feet to the fire. We need our share, but there's no chance of that unless we all hammer the ANC, which really does not understand or care for the electorate.

Amandla!

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-07-27-joburg-unleashes-rejuvenation-blitz-on-citys-roads/

Zuma man found guilty of assault

Neighbour Neville Ross writes:

Seems like the justice system is starting to work. What a joke. Money spent on trying someone for accidentally spilling a drink that did no harm to anybody.

http://www.ewn.co.za/Story.aspx?Id=70962

In defence of Bombela

 Ivo Vegter is South Africa's most prominent stirrer.

He always gets to the heart of matters, and even if you don't agree with him, he is always good reading.

Here he writes about the company that has torn our suburb in every possible direction.

In defence of Bombela

The Gautrain operators have taken a great deal of flak over the lavish funding they received and the extraordinary revenue guarantees they enjoy. But would you be a good profit-seeking capitalist if you didn't take free money from corrupt socialists, when it is lawfully on offer?

http://www.thedailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2011-07-25-in-defence-of-bombela

Bugweed and litter

Update: By close of business, William reported he had removed 500 bugweed from the garden. Yet, on the surface of it, it looked as if the garden was relatively clear. This means we have cleared, in seven months, 3 500 from 87 Hilton and 68 Clulee.

Secondly, I enjoyed Neville's chirp that we were lucky only to have two black bags of litter on our verge. But, again, it hardly looked as if we had any litter. But with a school operating across the road, and a construction crew just down the road, the litter was deeply entrenched.

It is my experience that bugweed is utterly pervasive, as is litter, and we tend to live around both of them.


Original post: One of our first acts on moving into No 68 Clulee was to clear the bugweed. On the surface it looked as if there was none. William, our gardener, has just finished clearing over 300. (Above is what it looks like.)


Last Sunday, 702 ran a programme on how toxic and noxious this weed is. Utterly horrible. It is literally against the law to have it on your property.

During this year alone at 87 Hilton Road we pulled out over 3 000 of these plants.

Our second act was to clear the verges of litter. Two black bags later ...

Inverters and more

 My good friend Duncan McLeod bought a giant inverter. It's enough to power half of Randburg.

But most of us don't have R2 000 sitting around.

An inverter is a simple device. It delivers mains power when you need it, as many of us do, and charges when the mains are back on.

I won't go into an electrical instruction lesson here, but suffice it to say, if your business depends on power when Eskom goes down, I would heartily recommend you invest in an inverter-backup battery solution.

I bought a ton of them back in 2009 when the power was down all the time, and quite honestly, they saved our butts.

You have two choices: large, costly and centralised, or lower cost and decentralised.

If anyone wishes to discuss this, please contact me.

Derek and Janine Freeman inquire ...

Power update: It would seem the DA moved heaven and earth to resolve the power situation in 1st Road. Eskom crews are currently working there.


I worked with Darren Bergman and his team, including Helen Zille, and even Tony Leon in Buenos Aires, to get the work crew in. Darren and David at his office were unreal in their responsiveness. I have advised Helen and Tony. This, not what the ANC offers, is what ward councillors are about.

The innards of the distribution box were stolen and a work crew are working on and will work through the night to restore and hopefully to secure.

Derek has just called to say thank you. I just made a few calls, Derek. You look after yourself, your good wife and your baby. And I am at 68 Clulee all of tomorrow if you want to borrow my generator.



Power update: Janine Freeman asks: "Do you perhaps have a contact email address for Darren Burgman, our DA representative?

"We still have no power, and both City Power and Eskom are saying there has been no log of a fault - which we have now logged.

"Would like to try and escalate, as we have a four-week-old baby at home and we need electricity for bottles and to keep warm temp."

Darren is on 082-456-8636 or bergman.darren@gmail.com.

He has committed to getting the Freemans' power restored today.


That is the DA in action.



Water update:  Bev Cooke advises: "I managed to get through to Jhb Water to be informed that there was a planned water disruption in Linbro for today. They have had some challenges and they now estimate that we will have water at 9pm to night."

Earlier: My understanding via Intaprop is that the lack of water is due to the laying of new pipes and the diversion of existing ones for the vast new warehouse. We are no more than 100m now from the reservoir, and were without water for half of today, and had a trickle for the rest.

Update: 702, at my instigation, is reporting and confirming that Linbro Park's power is fluctuating between 110V and 180V and seldom peaking at the required voltage of 220-230V. This will run until 7pm.

David Blood of Kempton Park and SuperSport fame has assisted immeasurably in getting this issue to the fore. He is a national treasure.

You are paying for something, but not getting it.

The Freemans asked: Has anyone else reported the lack of power and water in 1st Rd, from house 118 and downwards towards Linbro Business Park?

More on armed robbery

 Neighbour Roger Price reports:
This occurred as the victims were leaving Linbro, not in the suburb. It appears that it could have happened at London Road exit, as one victim was driving back to Linksfield, having delivered flowers in Linbro. Probably the same gang who attempted to hold up Margie McKay? No personal possessions were taken, but at least one victim was assaulted.

If so, London Road exit is now a hot spot for crime.

More: The woman who was assaulted and robbed. The only other detail I have is that she put up a fight and got beaten for her courage. Another victim, a man, interceded and managed to calm her and prevent further assault. I am sure the incident will have been reported to the police.

Update on petrol and gas

Update on the petrol: Seems Solidarity has called off its strike. One by one, things are getting back to normal.Woodmead Engen also has plenty of petrol.

Update on the gas: The hardware store in the Wendywood Shopping Centre has as much gas as you can need and buy, at immediate notice.

Update: I had a meeting with SuperSport in Parkhurst. Afterwards I needed petrol. I had to drive 20km before finding some in Houghton. Eish!

1 Petrol seems to be freely available at Engen Longmeadow
2 BP Edenvale North had petrol but is sold out ... queues stretched 500m down Van Riebeeck on Saturday
3 The two Caltex garages at the bottom end of Edenvale would seem to still have petrol
4 The average waiting time for gas, I am told by Jacks Paint in Stoneridge, is 17 days

N3 closed

702 is reporting that an accident has closed down the N3 north at London Road. All lanes are closed and.will be for some time.

Robbery in Linbro Park

Neighbour Linda Grobler reports: "Thursday night they broke in at my storeroom at Party Land. They sawed off the burglar bars of a small window. They stole my two urns, about eight small chairs, lots of glasses and cups.(Everything they could get through that small window).

I am so angry and powerless! Will we ever again be able to live in a country with peace and without fear?

I think that the culprits live in the houses that owners rent out to 10-15 people.

As I was writing this mail, someone broke into a visitor to Party Land's car, and in a few seconds, stole his purse under his seat, pulled out his gps.and screen, and went through his CDs and ran away.

Now I really feel like just packing up and leaving! I can"t live like this!!"

Petrol

For anyone needing petrol, my understanding is that two Caltex garages in Edenvale have just taken delivery.

For updates: www.gotpetrol.co.za

Comparing Zimbabwe with South Africa

 Neighbour Mario Cremonte posts:
I had an e-mail from a friend in Zimbabwe yesterday and she sent me this picture and story that I thought was delightful. They had been away at a game park and on the first evening while sitting in front of the fire in the bar, in walked a fully grown warthog. He walked over to the bar and without a word the bar man handed him a pillow. He took the pillow, put it next to the fire and promptly lay own with his head on the pillow and went to sleep where, apparently, he spends the cold nights. Then in the morning he's off into the bush again! My friend,Cynie, says that if the barman isn't there he'll grab a pillow off one of the couches! Here he is:

And then:

Back in potholed, petrol-free, dirty streets, taxi nightmare, etc ...... RSA.

But, hey, it's not all bad.

Arrived, drove past toyi-toiying steel workers; hit my first pothole; 28 hours later hijacking with shots fired at London Road; 32 hours later all electricity gone at home for 1 1/2 days; electricity cables still being stolen; Cele's and other corrupt politicians' cases continue; unkempt verges; all petrol stations out of fuel because of petroleum workers' strike; car queues everywhere; till operators still happy to serve; 15 roadside entrepreneurs; no work placards; self appointed parking attendents; no gas!!

And all this was before lunch.

Wonder how the rest of the day will pan out?

Good to be home.

Mario

Road block/robbers

Roger Price advises: "A friend has just informed me that several men have created a "road block" in Linbro Park, held up three cars and robbed the occupants. I have no details of the road."

I will provide more details as they become available.

Burglar/intruder Wellington

The guy who I found in my former property, 87 Hilton, on Saturday, I am advised, is one of the low-lives who brutally slaughtered the pig down at the bottom of Clulee in January.

More details to follow as they emerge.

Impossibly sad: toddler drowns in pool in Potch

Points to note:

1 No one knows how long the child was in the pool. Which means the caregivers were derelict.
2 The pool was not covered and there was no pool arlarm


http://saweatherobserver.blogspot.com/2011/07/kleuter-verdrink-in-swembad.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SaWeatherAndDisasterInformationServiceSouthAfrica+%28SAWDIS%29

Secondly, 50 children found drowned in a single recreation room on a boat which sank on the Volga yesterday.

Attempted hijack

Mike Hitge (082 455 3034 ) reports:

Attempted hijack cnr Sheridan and London Road at 18.30. Hijackers shot at Marrgie McKay and daughter. He advises: be extremely careful of area.

The Economist reports on our terrible winters

Winter in Johannesburg
Hard and cold

Jul 8th 2011

SITUATED barely 100 miles (160km) south of the Tropic of Capricorn, you might expect Johannesburg, South Africa's commercial capital, to be bathed in tropical heat all the year round. But this city of 4m inhabitants lies 5,500 feet (1,700 metres) above sea level and it is now mid-winter. So although the middle of the day is generally warm, with clear blue skies and a sun too hot to sit out in comfortably, the nights can be bitterly cold, with temperatures dropping below freezing. But apart from the fancier hotels and some upmarket office blocks, almost no one has central heating—or adequate heating of any form for that matter.

Everyone complains about the cold. During the winter months from May to September, it forms the main topic of Johannesburgers' conversation. Yet no one does anything about it. At night, families, swaddled in overcoats and wrapped in blankets, huddle around what is often the only fire (gas, wood or electric) in their uninsulated drafty homes, where the wafer-thin windows radiate back the outside cold, and the shaded verandas or stoeps (so pleasant in the summer heat) prevent the sun's warming rays from penetrating. The schools are not heated, nor are most restaurants or shops. Offices barely are.
   
Bed, preferably with an electric blanket and piled high with thick duvets, is really the only comfortable place. Getting dressed in the morning is agony. Taking a shower even worse. The uncarpeted wooden or tiled floors (excellent, again, in summer) are freezing under foot. Icy tap water sends darts of pain through newly brushed teeth. Skin dries and cracks painfully in the moistureless air. Coffee gets cold before it can be drunk. Olive oil turns solid in the bottle. Red wine has to be put in the microwave to be palatable. And if that's what it's like for rich folk, imagine how poor black people cope in the townships and shanty-towns.

Earlier this week, in the sprawling black township of Soweto outside Johannesburg, an angry mob, unable to bear the cold any longer, went on the rampage, burning down the homes of two African National Congress councillors and torching their cars in protest over the soaring cost of electricity. They were used to getting their electricity for free, through illegal (and often dangerous) connections to the grid. But then the heavily indebted state-owned power company, Eskom, decided to put an end to this drain on its resources by installing money-gobbling pre-paid meters in houses. No longer able to heat their homes, the impoverished residents turned their wrath on their local councillors who, they said, should have never agreed to the installation of Eskom's little "green boxes".

One might have thought this would serve as a lesson to other public officials dealing with the poor in the misery of Johannesburg's winter. But it seems not. Two days later, as temperatures dropped to –2°C, around 2,000 residents in a decrepit city-centre tenement block were thrown out onto the street, with what meagre belongings they could salvage, after the Johannesburg council deemed their building to be a fire risk. It was up to the landlord, they were told as they stood helplessly in the freezing night air, to find them alternative accommodation. Fat chance. It took an emergency High Court order to get the tenants, who included women and children as well as about 50 blind people, back inside before they all froze to death.

But, hey, at least winters in South Africa are short, Johannesburgers ruefully remind themselves and others.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2011/07/winter-johannesburg

How Simon Butler-White gained immortality

My former colleague and friend Simon Butler-White, now well ensconced Down Under, was a night sub at the Daily Dispatch. On a quiet Sunday night, Simon got a story for the front page to sub. A man was down at the mouth of the Buffalo River to buy fresh fish for supper. He came across a woman screaming. Her dog had fallen in the river and was swirling around in the tidal bore. With nary a thought for his safety, he dived in and rescued the dog. The Dispatch reporter happened to be in the area, and interviewed him. He explained he just wanted two fish for supper, and really, it was nothing big. So Simon wrote as a headline: “Man buys two fish”, and it got through all the systems and the next morning there was the headline.

It entered the halls of immortality, far more than “Man rescues dog”.

From there he and fellow expat Clive Archer, a deeply funny man, would juxtapose movie, album, and other names. So: "Fish Times", "Fish Wars II", "Fish Attraction", and of course, they were proven spot on with "A Fish Called Wanda".

More to come on these unique men.

Shocking roads: most of them in Linbro Park

 31% of Gauteng roads in a bad state
2011-07-05 22:23

Johannesburg - 31% of Gauteng's roads are in a poor or very poor condition, Transport MEC Ismail Vadi said on Tuesday.

"The assessment for 2010 shows that out of the total extent of the provincial paved road network of 4 248km, 9% are in a very good condition; 27% in good condition; 33% in a fair condition; 20% in poor condition and 11% in a very poor condition," he said in his budget address in the Gauteng Legislature.

"These statistics are disturbing as the international benchmark is that a country's road network should not have more than 10% in a poor and very poor condition - provincially we are now at 31%."

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/31-of-Gauteng-roads-in-a-bad-state-20110705

Excellent: cops and reaction service work to stop farm attack, kill 5 robbers

One of the robbers killed yesterday.

Tip-off foils farm attack
Bongani Hans and Bradford Keen, The Witness

Pietermaritzburg - Farm owner Craig Marwick has told how he and his family were told to stay put in their houses as police and security guards lay in wait for a gang of robbers.

Five robbers were shot and killed on Sunday night when they tried to rob his Little Harmony farm near Richmond.

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Tip-off-foils-farm-attack-20110704

Chilling image of crime

No more details. Beeld has posted this pic, with the caption:

BRUTAL:

Mike Maginis' blood-spattered glasses lie on the kitchen counter of his house in Centrurion, where he was attacked with an axe, apparently by a Zimbabwean refugee. (Cornél van Heerden, Beeld)

Note: Zimbabweans form a large part of our workforce.

The view from the big SALT telescope in Sutherland

SALT is a spiritual place. Karen and I go there as often as we can. Right now, it's a darn cold place.

Toyota Yaris stolen

Pigspotter reports at 10.45 last night: "A car has just been stolen in Rosebank. Dark grey Yaris, YVJ181GP. If you see it please contact the police on 10111."

The Star reports on what the toll roads are going to cost

Good symptom of how things are collapsing

Look down the bottom left-hand side.

I can't make or receive a phone call. I pay thousands for this service.

I can't make or receive a landline call.

Ditto.

I depend on Gtalk for communication with clients, service providers and journalists.

For hours, it says: "Connecting."

As we slip into the second half of the year ...

A thought:

You stop paying tax in 60 days.
Then you get to keep some of your own money.

Next year, the date slips to roughly September 15.

You will work for 8.5 months next year just to keep government going. That line will continue to slip every year.

All countries where the citizenry work for more than six months to keep government going are socialist.

All socialist countries exist for the sake of government.

We are a nationalist socialist country as much as the Nats made us one.

Eish!

Now, having paid for SAPS salaries, we need to pay for ADT and don't get service. Having paid for education, we need to put our kids through private schools. Having paid for hospitals, we need medical aid. Having paid for electricity, we need generators. Having paid for roads with our petrol, we need tolls.

How much longer can each of us keep and feed nine people?

Answer: As long as the ANC says so.