The first thing that struck me on arrival at Mumbai International some years back was how many airport employees were hovering around inside the restricted area. There seemed to be an endless number of baggage handlers, security staff and assorted hangers-on. AÂ Third World bureaucratic thing, I surmised.
So it was a bit of a shock to observe something similar after landing in Johannesburg yesterday. OK, I’ve been out of the country for some months. But never before have I noticed the sheer number of obviously employed people just hanging around.
Some will argue it is better having people in jobs than not, but flooding the public sector with excess staff is never wise. Apart from the obvious additional burden on taxpayers, too many cooks tend to spoil the broth. Especially at the places where it really matters.
Just before taking my turn at the domestic departures x-ray machine, a Chinese arrival came through it the wrong way. He was pulling two large suitcases and judging by his confusion at the language, was obviously lost. Equally strange, the man was holding a new SA passport. Blame my suspicious mind, but at the very least shouldn’t one of the security guys have escorted him back to Customs? Or, when there are too many of you, is such an obvious action simply ignored because it is always someone else’s responsibility?
