January, 2008 - Worries
January 2008
I have not contributed to my blog for some months, for various reasons. One, I had another expensive nightmare with three separate internet servers which kept me off line for about two months causing great disruption to all my internet activity, especially communication with government departments pertaining to the various programs, as project manager for Rural Women.
Since arriving in South Africa in 2000 the expense, awkwardness, and corruption in telecommunications has been one of my significant frustrations. So great in fact I consider SA telecommunications the great business betrayer of South Africa and the new dispensation since 1994.
Prior to 94 the fiber optic broadband cable to Europe and then to the Saint Lawrence in Canada was established on tax payers money, at least South Africa’s part in it. After 94 Telkom was effectively privatized with shares virtually given, and sold also at very low cost to the new and growing black elite, many of them government figures. The profits and growth in value over the years has been astounding with net profit in 2005 at 1500 % with no new lines or infrastructure emplaced. Not only was speed kept slow on purpose as fees for use were based on time on line, and we’re talking here 30 or 40k, but difficulties experienced with the company and its monopoly were and generally are impossible to remedy as the company is not interested in helping its customers, only snaring their money.
The effect has been that one, SA lost all potential to become internationally networked or for that matter nationally networked without paying costs which regularly amount to 10 times that of other countries. There has not been a month in the over seven years I have been here that my telecommunication costs haven’t been five or more times the cost of my residential rental. Also it has meant that only a small percentage of the population can afford telecommunications, and thus the cost of doing business or community work is burdened to such a degree that the effectiveness of each of these groups is perhaps at 1/10th of its capacity.
Both last year and this year my computer’s broadband, which is now, if I’m lucky 500k, has been hijacked. By that I mean, we not only pay for line, server and speed separately, we also pay for the amount of data which is uploaded and downloaded. We pay by the gigabyte and if you have arranged for say two gigabytes and it gets used up in a week then they shut you down and in my experience it takes two weeks to two months to get it running again.
How has it been hijacked? Well, corruption is so strongly ingrained in virtually every government department and most commercial business (law of the jungle and all that) that someone from either Telkom of Vodacom (which is owned by Telkom) sold my pin and log-in information so someone else was able to access my limited and expensive two gigabytes of broadband. In discussions with Telkom, which took days and days to bring about they simply took the position: “well you’ve obviously given your pin and log in to someone else, so its your fault and your problem, and you owe us two years in payments as you signed a two year contract.”
Last year it cost me Rand 20,000 to repair, this year only R10,000, so I guess that’s some sort of improvement. Considering I had seven days usage of a two year contract, I’m somewhat peeved.
On other matters, I’m not optimistic about 2008. My New Year’s was terrible for various reasons including rushing my ECD Crèche administrator to hospital after being bitten twice by a scorpion. Mostly, we’re all very worried about South Africa’s political situation which is nothing short of being a farce. The White response is: “see, told you so, its Africa”. We desperately needed a change from Mbeki, a president who apart from giving economic advantage to the ‘black diamonds’
(our growing black elite) has failed miserably, and as Steven Lewis said: ‘may well be charged with crimes against humanity in the future for his obstructionist stand against medical help for HIV-Aids sufferers, his cozy relationship with Mugabe and many of the other world’s tyrants, the blocking of important resolutions on the Security Council of the UN and his over all Denialism of the growing poverty and continually accelerating crime.
Zuma, who you’ve likely heard of, has now been charged with crimes befitting Al Capone, and Selebi, our national police chief is likely to be charged as well. I’m still amazed that Interpol hasn’t publicly launched an investigation on him, very mysterious.
So here we have a Zuma president elect as of 10 days ago, and additionally, highly charged Zuma supporters openly stating they will not allow Zuma to be brought down. These are the supporters who massed in the thousands and screamed “Burn the Bitch” when Zuma was charged with and acquitted of raping the daughter of an old and deceased friend. She and her mother have been moved to Europe somewhere for their protection. From Zuma’s side the argument is that it is a government conspiracy to prevent his presidency, which is nonsense. The man as a populist is a crook and a thief, not to mention a puppet to very unsavory people, as alike to Selebi. Who knows what will happen to this exquisitely beautiful country and the dream of a non-racial all inclusive society.
Looking at other countries, take Kenya for example this very day, and it is possible to understand the very real fears that South Africa will go the way of Zimbabwe and other African nations. When I arrived here in June, 2000, many new white friends told me it was only time before the last remaining significant white African community, living in South Africa, would be pushed into the sea. I’m not so sure now that this fear won’t be realized.
Ethics isn’t even considered in South Africa, not that I can see. You rarely see an analysis or column speaking about ethics. Pity! Without it, the downfall of any nation is determined.
I’m off to the garden. At least there, I find comfort and freedom from worry.
For further information on cyber hijacking, see:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7154187.stm
I have not contributed to my blog for some months, for various reasons. One, I had another expensive nightmare with three separate internet servers which kept me off line for about two months causing great disruption to all my internet activity, especially communication with government departments pertaining to the various programs, as project manager for Rural Women.
Since arriving in South Africa in 2000 the expense, awkwardness, and corruption in telecommunications has been one of my significant frustrations. So great in fact I consider SA telecommunications the great business betrayer of South Africa and the new dispensation since 1994.
Prior to 94 the fiber optic broadband cable to Europe and then to the Saint Lawrence in Canada was established on tax payers money, at least South Africa’s part in it. After 94 Telkom was effectively privatized with shares virtually given, and sold also at very low cost to the new and growing black elite, many of them government figures. The profits and growth in value over the years has been astounding with net profit in 2005 at 1500 % with no new lines or infrastructure emplaced. Not only was speed kept slow on purpose as fees for use were based on time on line, and we’re talking here 30 or 40k, but difficulties experienced with the company and its monopoly were and generally are impossible to remedy as the company is not interested in helping its customers, only snaring their money.
The effect has been that one, SA lost all potential to become internationally networked or for that matter nationally networked without paying costs which regularly amount to 10 times that of other countries. There has not been a month in the over seven years I have been here that my telecommunication costs haven’t been five or more times the cost of my residential rental. Also it has meant that only a small percentage of the population can afford telecommunications, and thus the cost of doing business or community work is burdened to such a degree that the effectiveness of each of these groups is perhaps at 1/10th of its capacity.
Both last year and this year my computer’s broadband, which is now, if I’m lucky 500k, has been hijacked. By that I mean, we not only pay for line, server and speed separately, we also pay for the amount of data which is uploaded and downloaded. We pay by the gigabyte and if you have arranged for say two gigabytes and it gets used up in a week then they shut you down and in my experience it takes two weeks to two months to get it running again.
How has it been hijacked? Well, corruption is so strongly ingrained in virtually every government department and most commercial business (law of the jungle and all that) that someone from either Telkom of Vodacom (which is owned by Telkom) sold my pin and log-in information so someone else was able to access my limited and expensive two gigabytes of broadband. In discussions with Telkom, which took days and days to bring about they simply took the position: “well you’ve obviously given your pin and log in to someone else, so its your fault and your problem, and you owe us two years in payments as you signed a two year contract.”
Last year it cost me Rand 20,000 to repair, this year only R10,000, so I guess that’s some sort of improvement. Considering I had seven days usage of a two year contract, I’m somewhat peeved.
On other matters, I’m not optimistic about 2008. My New Year’s was terrible for various reasons including rushing my ECD Crèche administrator to hospital after being bitten twice by a scorpion. Mostly, we’re all very worried about South Africa’s political situation which is nothing short of being a farce. The White response is: “see, told you so, its Africa”. We desperately needed a change from Mbeki, a president who apart from giving economic advantage to the ‘black diamonds’
(our growing black elite) has failed miserably, and as Steven Lewis said: ‘may well be charged with crimes against humanity in the future for his obstructionist stand against medical help for HIV-Aids sufferers, his cozy relationship with Mugabe and many of the other world’s tyrants, the blocking of important resolutions on the Security Council of the UN and his over all Denialism of the growing poverty and continually accelerating crime.
Zuma, who you’ve likely heard of, has now been charged with crimes befitting Al Capone, and Selebi, our national police chief is likely to be charged as well. I’m still amazed that Interpol hasn’t publicly launched an investigation on him, very mysterious.
So here we have a Zuma president elect as of 10 days ago, and additionally, highly charged Zuma supporters openly stating they will not allow Zuma to be brought down. These are the supporters who massed in the thousands and screamed “Burn the Bitch” when Zuma was charged with and acquitted of raping the daughter of an old and deceased friend. She and her mother have been moved to Europe somewhere for their protection. From Zuma’s side the argument is that it is a government conspiracy to prevent his presidency, which is nonsense. The man as a populist is a crook and a thief, not to mention a puppet to very unsavory people, as alike to Selebi. Who knows what will happen to this exquisitely beautiful country and the dream of a non-racial all inclusive society.
Looking at other countries, take Kenya for example this very day, and it is possible to understand the very real fears that South Africa will go the way of Zimbabwe and other African nations. When I arrived here in June, 2000, many new white friends told me it was only time before the last remaining significant white African community, living in South Africa, would be pushed into the sea. I’m not so sure now that this fear won’t be realized.
Ethics isn’t even considered in South Africa, not that I can see. You rarely see an analysis or column speaking about ethics. Pity! Without it, the downfall of any nation is determined.
I’m off to the garden. At least there, I find comfort and freedom from worry.
For further information on cyber hijacking, see:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7154187.stm
Labels: Zuma
posted by Legal Alien at 4:20 PM
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