SLR Diary: Zuma shadow in IPP attack, sympathy for ‘transphobe’ Navratilova

LONDON — This week columnist Simon Lincoln Reader analyses why the unions are blaming the Independent Power Producers for Eskom’s woes and speculates that it may go way back when the first bid did not go to Zuma’s friends but to people that were more “sophisticated, less villagey-ANC”. Following that Zuma and his cronies frustrated the progress of the IPPs and came up with his nuclear solution. Simon then turns his thoughts to tennis ace Martina Navratilova who is now labelled as “transphobe”. Just when women think they are reaching for bigger heights with the #metoo movement, they seem to be trumped by the #metrans movement. Now this is a tough one as England found out when a transgender woman placed in a women’s prison raped one woman and sexually assaulted four inmates within days of imprisonment. I have been shoved aside in women’s cloak rooms by men who bear no resemblance to women but with my size, I am staying out of this debate, “’n toe bek is ‘n heel bek.”  – Linda van Tilburg

By Simon Lincoln Reader*

Monday

That South Africa’s Independent Power Producer (IPP) program is now central to forces opposed to Cyril Ramaphosa is not surprising. This is only speculation, but I’ll go back to 2011, to the first bid window of the program, to what I think are the roots of this hostility.

In round 1, capacity (for solar PV) was undersubscribed. With no surplus to requirements, mere compliance – not price – determined the success of bidders (solar PV was then priced at R2,76 kWh).

I would hazard a guess that on the day the successful bidders of round 1 were announced (7th of December 2011) Jacob Zuma’s counsel, friends, assorted family and other associated peasants jolted upright: a handful of developers, investors and some politically-connected individuals had made a fortune, and it had happened right under the chief’s nose.

As far as we could see at the time, there was not a single, politically-connected individual allied to Jacob emerging from round 1. Mamphela Ramphele, Bobby Godsell and Danny Jordaan served on the board of one successful bidder, all of whom were related (then) to the a more sophisticated, less village-y ANC. But the complexion of the winning bidders was overwhelmingly pale.

Margins for corruption in the program’s architecture were diminished by the oversight of Treasury officials who i) had learned from the Arms Deal and ii) were eager to impress the interest parties (many of whom were from the EU). Although the price of solar would drop substantially, Jacob had zero skin in a game he didn’t understand, and I imagine this disgusted him.


Tuesday

What he and his fellow travellers must have felt on that day was possibly akin to the unhappy memories of 1994, when profiles belonging to the regal, urbane ANC were offered seats amongst Johannesburg’s mining dynasties, and backward yokels like Jacob and Harry Gwala were banished to the medieval conditions of rural provinces.

Jacob responded in two ways: firstly, with the help of the Guptas, he positioned identities within Eskom who were tasked with both frustrating the IPP program through chronic delays and establishing procurement lines for beneficiaries of his choosing. Secondly, he sought one-up on the green credentials of the IPP – by lobbying for nuclear power. Involving Russia’s Rosatom would limit exposure to irritants such as checks and balances – things which the IPP was big on.

The IPP symbolised both worldliness and progress of thought, things which Jacob and his supporters hate. But why this vestigial appendage of contempt still festers comes down to people getting rich – whites without him being invited, and some blacks, I suspect, without his consent.

Today’s political problems are deeply complex, mostly accompanied by a kind of layered statecraft that cannot be oversimplified. But what this untidy affiliation of scoundrels opposing Cyril reveals is the opposite unfolding at the centre of power; whether they realise it or not, this group has inherited a contempt based on primal instincts alone.


Wednesday

Poor Martina Navratilova. Multiple grand slams, eternal respect and legendary status mean nothing nowadays if you dare suggest that women who were once men boast an unfair advantage over biological females in sport. She’s a transphobe now, according to a movement called Athlete Ally in New York, and we’re apparently in a progressive age where ‘inclusion’ is mandatory, even if it involves passing wind in the faces of science and common sense respectively.


Thursday

So to this I give you Dr. Rachel McKinnon (pictured centre). He was one of the first to attack Martina and agitate the dog-on. Of course, he wasn’t always Doctor Rachel, I don’t know, maybe Basil, even Dirk.

Rachel McKinnon

As it happens, Doctor Rachel recently walloped female competitors at a cycling competition in Canada – for which, congratulations, but there are biological males who have won Argus Cycle Tours that still today behave, look and speak more like a woman than Doctor Rachel does.


Friday

I’m sure you, like me, are hyper-excited at the prospect of ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule’s return from Venezuela.

Ace and some ANC friends are presently in Caracas, compiling a list of facts about the situation in that country which will no doubt emerge materially separated from the reports documented by aid, health and other non-governmental agencies.

There is nothing wrong in Venezuela, in fact it’s brilliant, smashing, and any bastard who jeered the ANC delegation marching to their plane through OR Tambo with things like: “Er, nice one Ace, hope you like your Spaniel-cross rare,” is well out of order.

Ace will be eating Hungarian Vizsla actually, a far more civilised, athletic-ey species, not too distant from venison, from a pack of thoroughbreds confiscated at the grounds of a fleeing Ambassador now reserved exclusively for discerning friends of the revolution. Yet another inexactitude manufactured by these bloody imperialists.

  • Simon Lincoln Reader lives in London.
GoHighLevel
gohighlevel gohighlevel login gohighlevel pricing gohighlevel crm gohighlevel api gohighlevel support gohighlevel review gohighlevel logo what is gohighlevel gohighlevel affiliate gohighlevel integrations gohighlevel features gohighlevel app gohighlevel reviews gohighlevel training gohighlevel snapshots gohighlevel zapier app gohighlevel gohighlevel alternatives gohighlevel pricegohighlevel pricing guidegohighlevel api gohighlevel officialgohighlevel plansgohighlevel Funnelsgohighlevel Free Trialgohighlevel SAASgohighlevel Websitesgohighlevel Experts