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Lead out in cuffs posted:The poor are disgruntled by the massive wealth inequality, but the second anything vaguely leftist happens (e.g. the platinum workers strike), international investors and currency speculators trash the economy through disinvestment. How do you recognize the platinum worker's strike as something "vaguely leftist"? I mean, what should they be doing to move from vaguely to 100% leftist? In any case, I don't really see any sort of major negative effect of the strike to the currency, nor to the economy as a whole, looking at FDI anyway. Even the platinum price has remained relatively stable, considering the circumstances. As a matter of fact, I reckon that there are international investors lining up right now to dump hundreds of billions of rands into the economy, as soon as the Oil / Gas exploration off Mossel bay is completed. Nevermind the whole shale gas / fracking story in the Karoo etc. The refinery being considered in PLZ alone is around R 100 Billion to establish, as an alternative to upgrading our existing refineries to make up the 200,000 barrel/day shortfall we are sitting with, and also plan for the future. I cannot agree with you that ZA's economy is being trashed in any sort of way right now, and I actually feel very positive for the way forward, economically anyway. In terms of the platinum worker's strike, I believe they have overplayed their hand. I will readily agree that these guys should be earning more money than they are, but the approach of R 12500 or nothing isn't viable, and it's not a position suitable for negotiation if they never move from it. We are now at a point where miners would rather starve than accept R 12450 for example, spurred on by Joseph Mathunjwa whilst he figures out which one of his BMWs he will drive today. I also have a huge issue with the fact that the striking miners are essentially a murderous mob, with however many people having been hacked, burnt, shot etc to death now. It really makes it difficult to feel any sort of sympathy when these guys stab a guy to death for going to work with the intent of earning a few bucks to feed his bloody kids for example. The wealth inequality issue can only ever be solved through firstly education. South Africa is not a poor country, SARS ensures that we have AMPLE cash to spend, certainly on important areas. Education is one of those areas. And we spend HUGE money on this area....yet, it is a failure, and results for Matric are PISS loving POOR! Every year. And after year after year of pisspoor results, governments solution is to lower the passing grades so stats look better. And at the same time, we can't even supply a kid in Tzaneen with a textbook to study off, because of some tender rigging in the name of BEE, so some ANC connected individual can upgrade his Merc to a Maserati.
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May 24, 2014 00:46
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Lead out in cuffs posted:On a scale of leftist courses of action between engaging in social democracy and actively pursuing violent proletarian revolution, industrial action is certainly "vaguely" leftist. That, and the current move towards forming ANC-independent labour parties, is probably about the best case scenario given the vast wealth inequality in South Africa. Except of course that this industrial action by the platinum workers has been marred by violence, including the killing of police officers, non-striking members, rival union workers and so on. Is the behaviour of the platinum strikers an example of industrial action to you? Do tell me more about these new labour parties, and how they will address the vast wealth inequality in RSA. Lead out in cuffs posted:The rand lost about about 40% of its value over the past year and a bit. Drop in value against what, USD, EUR, Zim dollah? Please provide links to support this claim of a 40% "loss of it's value over the past year and a bit". Let's sweep that whole global economy story under the carpet as well while we at it. Lead out in cuffs posted:How much money is reasonable for one of the highest-risk jobs in the country? How much do you personally earn? You tell me how much money you feel they should be paid. Please make sure to also provide us with salaries of other high-risk jobs in the country, such as being a security guard for example, maybe a teacher as well, police officer and so on. Lead out in cuffs posted:So let's break this down. One NUM member was found stabbed yesterday, after scabbing. There have been no arrests and no witnesses, only the allegations of NUM (who have an axe to grind with AMCU). But even if this was actually a case where the scab was stabbed by AMCU members, which is certainly possible but not in any way verified, you are willing to generalise from the actions of a few members to calling the entirety of a union of 50,000 a "murderous mob". That's just not very rational thinking, there. Except that it isn't just one guy stabbed the other day. There's also the two cops who were hacked to death. And a shop steward here and there. And a few guys who got killed for going to work by the union members, after all, how dare they try make some money to feed their family. How about you tell me why all these strikers are forever carrying weapons during their protests? Lead out in cuffs posted:I don't think most of us in the thread would strongly disagree with what you are trying to convey in these two paragraphs. As I'm sure you've read on the last two pages, both education and tenders have come up. You seem to have valid points to contribute, but frothing at the mouth in all-caps is not the best way to go about it. Having read the last two pages, "most of us in this thread" is you and maybe two other loving posters before I rocked up. Maybe you can team up with them to conjure up supporting info on that 40% loss of value over the last year and a half for our currency.
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May 31, 2014 01:41
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There are almost certainly other factors feeding into that, but the timeline fits with Marikana and the strikes a little too neatly.